


Samantha Tyler: 084

by Shadowhunter_Artemis



Series: Quake Chronicles [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 084, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D - Freeform, Archaeologist, F/M, Time Travel, Twins, doctor who - Freeform, time vortex powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-01-31 21:33:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 97,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18599827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowhunter_Artemis/pseuds/Shadowhunter_Artemis
Summary: What if Skye had a twin sister? And what if she was dropped off at an orphanage in England and eventually adopted by Jackie Tyler?





	1. prologue

Samantha Tyler laid on her bed staring at the white ceiling on the glass box that she’d been confined to for the past week thinking over the events that had led to her current situation. The problem is she couldn’t really remember much. All she knew was that she had been investigating one of the Peruvian temples on the archaeological site with Doctor River Song. Something had happened and the next thing she knew, she was waking up in a SHIELD facility under quarantine with splints on her arms.

Jemma Simmons, one of the SHIELD scientists had told her that she’d sustained several hairline fractures from her collar bone all the way down her arms. Hence the splints. That didn’t explain why she was in quarantine. The reason for that was the strange golden light that the doctor on the archaeological site noticed under her skin. Due to this strange substance Samantha was subjected to being poked and prodded by SHIELD scientists which she wouldn’t mind if they’d found out why the golden light appeared occasionally under her skin. But they haven’t. The only thing the scientists had discovered about the strange light was that it wasn’t harmful at all, in fact it seemed to be helping with the healing of the hairline fractures she’d sustained.

Samantha didn’t move when she heard someone approach her box. “If you a scientist planning on taking my blood, bugger off. I’ve already been stabbed with a needle this morning”, she said not very politely.

“I’m not here to stab you with a needle”, an unfamiliar female voice said. Samantha turned her head to see a tall blonde haired, blue eyed woman standing there with a bag in her hands. She didn’t recognise her either. The only visitors she had was various scientists; Jemma Simmons and Agent Phil Coulson. “I heard there was someone in quarantine and I thought I’d bring some things to make it a little more bearable”, the woman replied holding up the bag. Samantha sat up and watched as the woman pulled out a drawer on one of the glass walls, places the bag inside and pushed it shut. Samantha got off the bed to have a look through to see what the woman had brought her “A deck of cards for solitaire, bag of homemade trail mix if you want to eat healthy, a couple of candy bars if not, headphones, a few trashy magazines”, the woman explained.

“Thanks uh….” Samantha trailed off as she didn’t know the woman’s name.

“Barbara Morse but you can call me Bobbi”, the blonde said introducing herself “and you are?” she asked.

“Samantha Tyler but you can call me Sam if you like. I’d shake your hand but…” Samantha knocked on the glass “there’s this thing in the way.

“When you finally get out, we’ll shake hands”, Bobbi promised.

“I’m holding you to that. Thanks for the stuff Bobbi. I was getting kinda bored with the books Jemma brought me”, Samantha explained gesturing to the small pile of Harry Potter books on the table. As an avid reader and not having a lot of other things to do, she got through the books rather quickly.

“Well I know what it’s like being in quarantine, it’s no fun”, Bobbi said completely understanding how Samantha felt having been there herself.

“Tell me about it. I’ve been stuck in here for a week now and I feel like I want to scream. Plus I’m getting a serious case of homesickness”, Samantha confessed. It was true, she was missing her adoptive family like crazy. While it had been some time since she’d been with her adoptive family at least on the dig she was able to skype them pretty much every day. That made it easier to be away for so long. However as she was in a SHIELD facility, she wasn’t allowed to skype. But she was able to call them every day so that was something.

“I’m sure you’ll be out of here in no time”, Bobbi said trying to be optimistic

“I honestly hope so. I miss my mom and sister”, Samantha told Bobbi.

“Does those hurt?” Bobbi asked nodding to the splints on her arms.

“Not as much as they did when I first woke up here”, the brunette replied. The women chatted about various topics such as likes, dislikes and hobbies. Samantha didn’t ask Bobbi any questions about her work in SHIELD as she figured it would be classified. She did learn some interesting things about Bobbi’s ex-husband Lance Hunter. Unfortunately the blonde woman had to go as she was called to a meeting. “I’ve got to go Samantha but I’ll try and come back again soon”, Bobbi promised.

“I’d like that”, Samantha said.

Bobbi stayed true to her word and stopped by to chat with Samantha whenever she could. It was precisely two weeks after Samantha woke up in SHIELD quarantine that Agent Coulson stopped by with some really good news. “Are you being serious? I can go?” Samantha said hardly daring what she was hearing.

“Yes you can”, Coulson said unlocking the door to her glass box.

“When you say I can go does that mean I’m allowed to go home?” Samantha asked stepping out of the glass box.

“You can go home but you can’t tell anyone about what happened to you or where you’ve been”, Coulson said.

“I think I can manage that”, Samantha said “what about the people on the dig? Some of them saw this” she added gesturing to her splint covered arms.

“We’ve got that covered. And don’t worry about what to tell your family, that’s covered too”, Coulson assured her.

“Good. Because I honestly wouldn’t know what to tell them”, Samantha admitted.

The lab door slid open and Jemma walked in carrying a case, Bobbi close behind her. “Before we let you go there is a few things you’re going to need”, Coulson said as the two women approached. Jemma set down the case on a nearby lab table, pulled out a black digital watch and gave it to Samantha explaining what it does.

“It’s for you own safety”, Coulson added once Jemma had finished.

“I understand. You’re letting me go knowing I have this weird stuff inside of me which could be potentially dangerous to myself or others”, Samantha said completely understanding. Coulson nodded glad that she didn’t seem to protest about being monitored.

“I’ve also got these gloves for you”, Jemma said producing a pair of black elbow length gloves from the briefcase. “They’ll will help with the healing”, she said handing them over to Samantha “they should also prevent any further problems you may have”.  

“You mean I might suddenly get powers?” Samantha asked worriedly.

“We honestly don’t know. Now those gloves are only a prototype so when you do try them on let me know how they are. If you have any side effects we may have to modify or make new ones. I suggest that you wait about a couple of weeks before trying them on”, Jemma said.

“Will do. Do I need to check in with you guys or something? You know to make sure everything is ok with this?” Samantha questioned gesturing to her arms again.

“I’ll be stopping by every couple of weeks to make sure your arms are healing properly”, Jemma replied.

“Do have any other questions?” Coulson asked.

Samantha thought for a moment before asking “do I need to wear a bag over my head when I leave? You know, so I don’t see where we are”.

“You won’t need to wear a bag but you will need to wear a blindfold”, Coulson replied “anything else?”

“Nope. That’s it. I’m glad to have met you guys but I kinda wish it was under better, less weird circumstances”, Samantha said. 

“I’m afraid weird circumstances would’ve been the only way we’d have met”, Coulson pointed out.

“Yeah I guess that’s true”. Samantha said her goodbyes to Jemma, Coulson and Bobbi making sure to shake the blonde’s hand like she said she would a week ago.

Several hours later….

“Sammy?” Jackie said surprised to see her adopted daughter enter the flat. She hadn’t expected her back so soon.

“Hey mum. I’m home”, Samantha said, smiling at her adoptive mother. Jackie moved to give her a hug when she noticed the splints on her arms.

“Sammy what happened? Are you ok?” she asked looking at her worriedly.

“I’m ok mum”, Samantha assured her “and as for what happened…” she glanced at Coulson who’d come with her in order to explain to her family.

“I can explain her injuries Mrs Tyler”, Coulson spoke up.

“And you are?” Jackie asked eyeing the man.

“Phil Coulson”, Samantha answered quickly “maybe its best if we sit down for this”, she suggested. Coulson nodded in agreement and he, Jackie and Samantha went to do so.


	2. Rise and shine Sammy!

3 months later…

Beep! Beep! Rose smacked the top of her clock to silence the alarm and jumped out of bed. She grabbed some fresh clothes and headed to the bathroom for a shower. Once she’d done that, Rose went straight for the kitchen to get some breakfast. Though when she passed her adopted sister’s room, a smile crept onto her face as she got an idea. Rose quietly opened the door of Samantha’s room and slipped in. She crept over to the radio/cd player and turned up the volume before pressing the on button. Asia started blaring out of the speakers.

_Heat of the moment_

“Rise and shine, Sammy!” Rose shouted over the music when her sister sat bolt upright as the music had woken her.

_Telling you what your heart is_

“Rose!” Samantha exclaimed tossing a pillow at her. Rose dodged it laughing and ran out of the room “I hate you!” Samantha called getting out of bed and turning off the radio.

“No you don’t! You love me!” Rose shouted back.

Samantha didn’t bother to answer back because it was true, as annoying a Rose can be sometimes she did love her. And Jackie too. They were the two people willing to take a chance by adopting her, at the age of 6, into their small family of two. Before then all Samantha had known was St Mathew’s, orphanage which she had been dropped off at when she was a baby and the two foster homes she had briefly stayed at. Initially Samantha had been afraid to feel comfortable at the Tyler flat because she never knew if she was going to be sent back to St Mathews. However, she’d worried needlessly as Jackie had decided to adopt her after one month of her stay in the small flat.

Samantha had been ever so grateful that Jackie had taken a chance with her. The woman even went as far as choosing a better name for her. When she was dropped off at St Mathew’s, no one knew what her name was. She was a Jane Doe. And that was what the nuns at the orphanage called her. She preferred the name Samantha, the name Jackie had given her because as the woman said ‘a new name for a new start’. She had a close relationship with Jackie. Rose too, despite the fact that she was older than her adoptive sibling.

Although she was rather content being a part of the small family, Samantha couldn’t help but wonder about her _actual_ family. Who were her parents? Did she have any siblings or was she an only child? Why was she left at an orphanage? Samantha sighed at that. She supposed that after 20 years of not knowing, it was highly unlikely that she was going to get any answers. It was better to focus on what she’s got right not instead of what she could’ve had.

Samantha grabbed some clean clothes from her drawers and went to the bathroom to freshen up. After having a quick shower, she changed into jeans and t-shirt she’d chosen. She then carefully pulled the black gloves back on, wincing as the fabric rubbed against the fading bruises. The fingerless gloves were working pretty well, much better than the prototype that Jemma originally made for her. She was rather relieved when it came to the day that she was allowed to swap her splints for the gloves. While she was wearing the splints Jackie practically fussed over her all day every day. She wasn’t allowed to do much of anything. When it got too much Samantha had to resort to escaping up to the roof, blocking off the door way so Jackie couldn’t follow her. Though when she finally did come back to the flat, her adopted mother would have a few words to say about what she did. It wasn’t quite a telling off, but it was pretty close. Once Jackie had said what she wanted to, Samantha would gently tell her how much she appreciated everything she’d done to help but would like it if she could not do so much. If she could allow her to do some stuff on her own. Jackie would usually nod and agree to that…then continue to ‘baby her’ the next day. 

Rose also helped her to do stuff around the flat but not as much as Jackie had done. Her younger sister understood why she got so annoyed with not being able to do things on her own. Sometimes she would take her down to the shops or to the park just so she could get a little breathing room from Jackie.

Samantha left the bathroom and went to the dining area where Rose was eating breakfast. She sat down with her and had a small breakfast of toast and a mug of tea. Once both had finished they said their goodbye’s to Jackie who was relaxing in front of the TV and then left for work.

\--------------

Samantha wandered around Henricks doing simple tasks such as restocking shelves and assisting customers. She wasn’t really happy to be there, she would much rather be holed up in a museum or off on a dig somewhere. Unfortunately for her there wasn’t that many opportunities and the ones she could do, she wasn’t able to apply for as she had been stuck at home due to her damaged arms. Now that her arms had healed enough that she could do the work she wanted, there weren’t any available. Although she was sure River would be able to find her a job but she hadn’t been able to get hold of the woman. In fact she hasn’t heard from her since Peru. _I really hope she’s ok_ Samantha thought. It had been River Song who’d gotten her interested in archaeology in the first place. She owed a lot to the woman who set her on the path to becoming an archaeologist in year 10 of secondary school. Despite the age difference she and River got along brilliantly. Even from the first meeting she felt really comfortable around the woman like she had been friends with her for years. After her shift at Henricks she was going to try and get hold of River again, hopefully she’ll be able to talk to her this time.

Hours later…

 _This is a customer announcement. The store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you._ Samantha breathed a sigh of relief when the announcement came over the tannoy.  Once she’d grabbed her bag, she headed towards the main doors like all the other shop girls and Rose. Her sister gave her a smile when she joined her at the main doors. When Rose tried to leave she was stopped by the guard who held out a plastic bag. Wilsons Lottery money. “I’ll take that to Wilson”, Samantha said taking the bag from the guard.

“You sure?” Rose asked.

“Yeah. Go on home Rosie, I’ll see you there”, Samantha said. She didn’t wait for a reply from her sister before heading to the back of the shop to take the lift down to the basement. She stepped out of the lift when the doors opened. “Wilson I’ve got the lottery money for you”, Samantha called through the door to the Chief Electrician’s office. There was no answer. She knocked on the door and called again. “Wilson!” again she got no answer. “Brilliant”, Samantha mumbled under her breath. She was about to leave the bag outside his door when she heard a noise down the corridor.

“Wilson? Is that you?” Samantha called down the corridor. But once again she got no answer. Samantha sighed and walked down the corridor, putting the lottery money in her bag. She opened the fire doors and turned on the light.  “Wilson? You in here?” Samantha called. No big surprise, she didn’t get an answer from the Chief Electrician. She decided to have a quick look around the room for the man before heading home herself. 

Samantha didn’t get far into the room, when the fire doors she’d came through slammed shut. She ran back to them and tugged the handles. They didn’t open. “Great”, she grumbled. Samantha turned around and gave the room a once over to look for another way out. She spotted a door at the side and headed for it. As she was part way towards the door, she heard a noise behind her. Samantha glanced back but didn’t see anything. She continued on but stopped again when she heard another noise that was a little louder this time. Samantha turned around to see a shop dummy step out of its alcove and come towards her. “Ok. Ha, ha. You got me. Very funny FitzSimmons” she called as she backed away from the dummy. This was clearly some stupid prank the science duo were pulling on her.

She’d experienced one of their pranks before when she visited the safe house for her fortnightly check-up. How they knew she was going to be in the basement that day, she had no idea. Then again Fitz was a rocket scientist and Jemma was a biochemist so between the two of them it wouldn’t be hard to figure it out. “Right I’ve got the joke guys. You can come out now. You too Eric!” Samantha said loudly knowing that it wouldn’t have taken much for FitzSimmons to convince Agent Eric Koenig to help them with the prank. The guy was like an overgrown child sometimes. Two more join the first dummy. “Seriously guys you can stop this now!” Samantha said beginning to panic a little when none of them answered her nor showed themselves. More dummies joined the three. She yelped when one came up behind her. Samantha backed away from it, tripping over a box as she was more focused on the dummies in front of her. She picked herself up and continued backing up until her back hit the wall. One of shop dummies raised its arm and Samantha braced herself for the blow. Before it came, a hand grabbed hers. Samantha snaps her head to look at the owner of the hand. It was a man a leather jacket.

“Run!” he said before dragging her away from the shop dummies. Samantha and the new guy burst through the fire doors, running down the corridor hand in hand. Shop dummies chased after them. The pair darted into a lift but before the doors could close a shop dummy stuck its arm through. The leather jacketed man grabbed its arm and after a few tugs, he pulled it off.

“You pulled its arm off”, Samantha stated.

“Yep”, the man said tossing it to her “who were you calling for?”

“Some friends of mine. I thought they were pulling a prank on me”, Samantha replied.

“A prank? Really?” the man asked.

“Well FitzSimmons have about 10 degrees between them so making shop dummies move on their own would be child’s play for them. They also seemed to enjoy pulling that first prank on me”, Samantha went on to explain about the first prank not noticing the smile on the man’s face “it was safe to say that I wasn’t impressed. But in the words of Jemma Simmons ‘being pranked is an integral part of…’” she trailed off when she realised that she was rambling to a complete stranger about the time FitzSimmons pranked her. “Hang on why am I telling you all this?”

“I’ve just got one of those faces. People can’t help me telling things. Especially their plans”, the man said with a shrug.

Samantha looked at the man, focusing on his face “right of course you just have one of those faces”, she said clearly not believing him “anyway whoever was controlling those shop dummies will be in a lot of trouble when Wilson catches them”

“Who's Wilson?” the man questioned.

“The Chief electrician”, Samantha answered.

“Wilson's dead”, the man replied. He steps out of the lift when it reaches the floor he wanted and Samantha followed him.

“Are you being serious?” she asked really hoping he was just joking.

“Unfortunately, yes” the man pushed her aside to disable the lift with some sort sliver tube with a blue tip “mind your eyes”, he warned before using the tube of the lift. Samantha looked away when the control’s sparked “there we go”, the man said pocketing tube and started walking away. Samantha hurried after him. “You think those dummies are being controlled by people?” he asked.

“Well they have to be. Shop dummies can’t walk around on their own”, Samantha answered.

“They can if they’re living plastic. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this”, the man showed her a makeshift looking bomb “So!” he opened the fire exit and ushered Samantha out “I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me, no. Go home, go on! Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed”.  

The man the shut the door on Samantha. He was a rather strange man, she’d have to admit. However she was pretty grateful that he saved her life. Samantha was about to walk off when the door opened again. “I'm the Doctor, by the way”, he said introducing himself “What’s your name?”

“Samantha”, Samantha answered.

“Nice to meet you, Samantha”, the Doctor said cheerfully waving the bomb “Run for your life!”

Samantha complied. She darted across the road, dodging cars. Just as she reached the other side, there was a big explosion. Samantha looked back to see Henricks in flames. “Looks like I’m out of a job”, she commented tossing the plastic arm aside. Samantha stuck her hands in her pockets and walked quickly along the street, casting a brief glance at a blue police box that was situated in the alleyway between two buildings.


	3. worried mother. sister and friends

“What happened Sammy?” Rose asked Samantha as they sat on the sofa. Jackie had gone off to chat to her friends about how her eldest was almost killed by the explosion at Henricks.

“I don’t know Rose. I was across the street when the building went up”, Samantha lied.

“Thank god you were. If you had been in the building when it exploded…” Rose trailed off not even wanting to finish that sentence. Samantha set her mug of tea down so she could take hold of Rose’s hands.

“I’m alive Rosie and that’s what matters”, Samantha said.

Rose opened her mouth to say something when Jackie walked in carrying the phone “It's Debbie, she knows a man from the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview!” she said happily.

“Oh that's brilliant!” Samantha said taking the phone from Jackie and hit the phone button ending the call.

“Well, you've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailing you out”, Jackie told her “either of you”, she added looking at Rose as well. The phone rings again and Jackie answers it. “Bev! Sammy’s alive. I've told her, sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death”.

Rose and Samantha exchanged looks as Jackie left the room chatting away to Bev. “I'm not sure you could sue for compensation Sam”, she said.

“I highly doubt it either as I wasn't in the building when it went up”, Samantha agreed “But I'm not about to tell mom that it won't be possible. You know what she's like, when she sets her mind on something”, she reminded Rose.

“That’s very true. Now that you no longer have to work in that shop anymore are you going to think about getting back into archaeology?” Rose asked.

“Honestly Rose, I don’t know. My next place of employment is the furthest thing from my mind right now”, Samantha replied honestly.

“Good point” Rose agreed “at least you’ve got that degree to help you get another job. I don’t know what I’m going to do”.

“You’re smart Rose, you’ll figure something out”, Samantha assured her “tell you what…” she broke off when she felt her phone vibrate.

“Tell me what…?” Rose said as Samantha pulled out her phone.

“Uh I’ll tell you later”, Samantha said after reading the text she’d received “I’m gonna head out”.

“Where?” Rose asked. It was a bit late for Samantha to go back out. Also Rose was surprised that the wanted to considering what she’d just been through. She figured if anything, Samantha would’ve been in shock.

“Just down to the park. Need to get some air”, Samantha lied. She didn’t like lying to her family but she couldn’t very well tell them about her affiliation with SHEILD. She wasn’t allowed. She had to sign papers and everything promising to keep her involvement with them a secret.

“You want company?” Rose asked.

“Nah. I won’t be long, probably an hour”, Samantha replied “Could you do me a favour? Let mom know where I’ve gone. Don’t want her to worry”.

“I will”, Rose promised. Samantha nodded and left the room. Before heading out, she stopped by her own room to grab her SHIELD ID.

\--------------------

The second Samantha entered the SHEILD safe house, she was assaulted by Jemma who engulfed her in a huge hug. “Thank god you are alright. When the news said that there was a body I feared the worst” Jemma stepped “did you get hurt in the explosion?” she asked quickly looking Samantha over.

“Unless you count the bruising I’m gonna get from your bear hug, I’m perfectly fine. I wasn’t even in the building when it went up”, Samantha assured Jemma.

“Well you look fine but I still have to examine you properly”, the British woman said. Jemma led Samantha to the living room where she got her to stand on what appeared to be a modified Wii board. The brunette stood still on the board with her arms slightly out while she was scanned head to toe. “This all appears normal”, Jemma said looking at the tablet with Samantha’s scan on it “no injuries that I can see”, the British woman informed her “No new ones, I mean”, she added.

“Told you I was fine”, Samantha said.

“I know you did but I had to make sure. It’s…” Jemma began when Samantha cut in with

“Its protocol. I know” Samantha stepped off the board “I suppose you’ll be wanting to examine my arms since I’m here”, she assumed.

“Absolutely”, Jemma agreed.

Samantha and Jemma sat down at the dining table where the latter gently removed the gloves from the former’s arms. Samantha eyed agent Eric Koenig who was standing back with a black tablet in his hand “let me guess, incident report?” Samantha guessed looking at the agent with a smile.

“You know the rules Sam”, Eric said.

“I know the rules Eric. Gonna write this in triplicate like the last one?” Samantha asked.

“I was being thorough”, Eric said defending himself.

“Right”, Samantha said slowly “So it has nothing do with me pushing that mugger into the fountain at Trafalgar Square after kicked him somewhere unpleasant for a guy because he stole my sister’s bag?”

“Maybe. Just a little bit” Samantha gave Eric a look and he corrected himself with “ok it was a big part of it. And it looked so cool in that video!”

“Yeah it did, didn’t it?” Samantha agreed smiling as she remembered being shown this video that a bystander took of her taking down the mugger in Trafalgar Square by a very excitable Eric Koenig. The agent sat down at the table with his tablet and the questioning began.

“Sam do you need me to repeat the question?” Eric asked when Samantha hesitated in answering his question about whether she saw anyone acting suspiciously.

“No, you don’t need to”, Samantha replied “I didn’t see anyone acting suspiciously around the shop”.

“Ok”, Eric said and typed something into his tablet while Samantha and Jemma watched. Samantha felt bad about lying to him but the Doctor specifically said not to tell anybody about him otherwise she’d get them killed. And that was something she didn’t want to happen, especially her family or to Eric and Jemma.

“What are you going to do now that you’re out of a job?” Jemma asked.

“Not sure. Might think about going back into archaeology but I don’t really know Jemma”, Samantha answered.

“You could always join Coulson’s team”, Eric suggested looking up from his tablet.

“Coulson’s team?” Samantha asked raising an eye brow.

“Agent Coulson is creating a small team to investigate cases of superhuman or supernatural events”, Jemma explained “and I’m going to be one of the members”.

“Congratulations”, Samantha said.

“Thanks. He also asked you to join the team”, Jemma said.

“Really?” Samantha asked surprised “when did he mention this?”

“Today actually”, Jemma replied.

“Well I’m pretty surprised he’d ask me, I’m not a SHEILD Agent like you”, Samantha reminded her.

“No but he did ask you to join as a consultant, he thinks you could be an asset”, Eric spoke up.

“Is that because I have skills that would be of use to him or because of the incident a few months ago?” Samantha questioned.

“Honestly? I think it’s a little of both”, Jemma admitted.

“Well you can tell him that I’m grateful for the offer but I can’t join the team. I can’t leave my family behind and I don’t really feel comfortable keeping any more secrets from them”, Samantha explained “I’m not saying that I wouldn’t be willing to help, I would definitely help out if you ever needed me” she quickly added “but I can’t join Coulson’s team. I’m sorry”.

“I understand Sam. I’ll let Coulson know of your decision”, Jemma said.  

“You’re not upset are you?” Samantha asked slightly worried that her refusal would upset her.

“Of course not!” Jemma assured her “I figured you might turn the offer down but I had to ask anyway”.

“When you tell Coulson, could you also tell him that I would be willing to help or lend my expertise if he ever needs it”, Samantha said.

“I’ll tell him”, Jemma promised. Samantha stayed at the safe house for about ten minutes longer before she said goodnight to the two agents and headed back home. On the way to the Powell Estates, Samantha briefly stopped and glanced around.

“There’s nothing there. You’re just hearing things Sam”, she murmured and continued walking unaware that the plastic arm from Henricks was following her.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beep! Beep!

Samantha sleepily reached over, slapped the alarm off and sat up. She was surprised that Rose hadn’t come in to wake her. “There's no point in getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to”, Jackie called.

“Yeah I know”, Samantha mumbled flopping back onto her pillow. She laid there for a moment before dragging herself out of bed. Samantha grabbed herself some clothes and went into the bathroom to freshen up. When she was done, she checked Rose’s room and found that it was empty. “Morning mom”, she said to Jackie as she entered the kitchen.

“Morning sweetheart. I’m surprised you even set your alarm this morning considering you don’t have to go anywhere”, Jackie said handing her two mugs from the cupboard.

“Force of habit”, Samantha replied setting the mugs down and started to prepare the tea “where’s Rose?” she asked.

“She went out early to go look for jobs”, Jackie replied.

“How come she didn’t wake me? I would’ve gone with her”, Samantha said.

“She didn’t want to wake you. You had been through quite a bit last night”, Jackie said. She followed Samantha out of the kitchen to the dining table where the young woman set her breakfast down. “I’m not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek! I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim”, Jackie informed her.

“I’ll think about it mum”, Samantha promised her although she had no intention of doing so. Jackie nodded and took her mug of tea to her room. Samantha was cleaning up her bowl, after finishing her cereal when she heard a scuttling coming from the direction of the living room. _Great another stray_ she thought. They often had strays from around the estate wander in and out of the flat as they had a cat flap on the door. Both Rose and Samantha had told Jackie repeatedly to nail the cat flap shut to stop those felines from getting in. It seemed like she’d forgotten. Again.

Samantha left the kitchen and went to the living room “here kitty, kitty”, she called softly from the door way hoping to coax the cat out from wherever it was hiding. A noise sounded from behind the sofa “it’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you”, Samantha said as she slowly approached it. She frowned when no cat or kitten came out from behind the sofa. _Must’ve gotten stuck_ she thought leaning over the sofa to have a look to see if she could grab it.

What was behind the sofa, was not what Samantha expected. A plastic arm leapt at her and latched itself around her neck sending her stumbling backwards. It didn’t have a hold on her neck for very long as a golden burst of energy exploded from her body flinging the plastic arm away. Samantha collapsed to the floor slipping quickly into unconsciousness.


	4. Mickey swapped

“Ugh what the hell was that?” Samantha groaned as she groggily sat up after coming around several minutes later. That had never happened before. Then again she’d never been strangled by plastic arm before. Immediately Samantha’s eyes went to the arm that was laying on the carpeted floor and she shot to her feet almost falling over in her haste to get away from the thing that tried to kill her.

Samantha stared at the arm, making sure it wasn’t going to move. After watching it for about a minute, the young woman slowly approached it. She nudged the arm with her converse clad foot and quickly stepped back in case it suddenly moved. It didn’t. Samantha nudged it with her foot a couple more times before she was sure that the arm wasn’t going to attack her again.

She gingerly picked it up and left the flat in order to get rid of the plastic arm. Samantha didn’t dump the arm in the bins by the block of flats where she lived, she walked a bit further to where she knew there was a collection of dumpsters and tossed the plastic arm in one. Instead of going to the safe house to report what had happened, which she should’ve done, Samantha went for a walk in the park.

She wandered around thinking about what had just happened in the flat. She knew that she was going to have to tell Jemma and Eric about it but to be honest she was rather hesitant to do so. If she told them, then they’d tell Coulson. She would have to go back to SHIELD for tests which she didn’t really want to do. For one thing, she didn’t want to worry her mother and sister. For another, as much as she liked a handful of people at SHIELD, she didn’t particularly want too much to do with them. Sure she’d stop by the safe house for compulsory check-ups every few weeks and she was very willing to offer help/expertise to Agent Coulson if he ever needed it. But that was as about it.

“Damn it”, Samantha grumbled when she nearly tripped over her shoe lace as it had just come untied. She knelt down and quickly retied her shoe. When she stood up, she was very surprised to see the Doctor walking by on the opposite side of the road. Her eyes widened when she noticed that he was carrying the plastic arm that she’d tossed in the dumpster. Seeing this, she took off towards the metal railing that surrounded the park and clambered over the top.

Samantha walked quickly as she followed the Doctor at a discrete distance. She stopped at a corner and watched as he approached a blue police box. In fact it looked like the same box she’d noticed last night just after Henricks exploded. The Doctor entered the box and moments later a strange noise started up. Then in front of her eyes, the blue box vanished!

Samantha hurried to where the blue box once stood and waved her hands around the empty space, half expecting to hit a solid object. But was nothing there. The police box wasn’t invisible as she first thought, it was gone completely. “That’s impossible”, she said in disbelief. _How could a police box just disappear like that?_ She thought as she stood by the empty space. Samantha shook her head “this is one strange day you’re having Sammy”, she said to herself before deciding to head back to the flat to do some research.

It was probably not the best idea in the world, she should just forget about it. But how could she? Vanishing police boxes? Living plastic? This kind of stuff just doesn’t happen every day, not to ordinary people. She stopped when a thought just occurred to her, this is the kind of weirdness she’d be experiencing if she had decided to join Coulson’s team.

\--------------

Couple of hours later…

“Come in!” Samantha called when she heard a knock at the door while she was researching the Doctor. The door opened and Rose stepped in “hey Rosie. Did you have any luck finding a new job?” Samantha asked turning to look at her sister.

“Unfortunately no, I haven’t”, Rose replied coming over to the desk “what are you looking at?” she questioned taking a look at the screen.

“Just some research”, Samantha said vaguely trying in Doctor Living Plastic. Those words came up with less than ‘Doctor’ did.

“What kind of research is this?” Rose asked curious.

Samantha hesitated in answering. The Doctor told her specifically not to tell anyone about him otherwise she’d get them killed. She couldn’t put Rose at risk but her sister had just seen what she was doing on her lap top. Although she could trust Rose not to tell Jackie if she told her not to. Samantha took a breath before she spoke “Last night. When you asked me if I knew what happened, I told you I didn’t know. That was a lie.  Rosie what I’m about to tell you is going to sound a little… no very crazy but I need you to hear me out”.

“Ok”, Rose said. She sat down on the bed while Samantha told her everything that had happened the night before and what she saw while walking in the park. “That sounds rather…”

“Crazy? I did tell you it would”, Samantha said.

“And this really happened”, Rose said.

Samantha nodded “yes, as weird as it all sounds it really did happen”, she said.

“Well what can I do to help?” Rose asked. Although her sister’s story did sound rather crazy, she knew that Samantha wasn’t a liar. So if there was something she could do to help, then she’ll do it.

“You believe me?”

“Yeah like you said it sounds crazy but I do believe you. So what can I do?”

“I guess you could help me research”, Samantha replied picking up her laptop and moving to sit beside Rose on the bed. Together they looked through the search results for Doctor Living Plastic but couldn’t find anything. So Samantha tried ‘Doctor Blue Box’ in the search bar. Those three words came up with even less results. The top result looked promising.

_Doctor Who? … do you know this man contact Clive here._

Samantha clicked on the site and a page popped up with an extremely fuzzy picture of the Doctor. “That’s the Doctor?” Rose asked peering at the image.

“It’s not the best picture of him, but yeah that’s the man I met last night”, Samantha confirmed. She then clicked on the ‘contact Clive’ link underneath the image.

\----------------

As neither Rose nor Samantha had a car, they got Mickey Smith to drive them over to Clive’s house. “You're not coming in. He's safe. He's got a wife and kids”, Rose told her boyfriend as she got out of the yellow car.

“Yeah, who told you that?” Mickey asked “He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say”.

“Don’t worry Mickey, I won’t let anything happen to Rose”, Samantha assured him as she got out of the car.

A young boy opened the door after Rose knocked on it. “Hello, we’ve come to see Clive”, Rose said politely.

“It’s about the Doctor”, Samantha added.

“Dad! It’s a couple of your nutters!” the boy called. Moments later a middle age man appeared at the door.

“Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Rose and Sam. I'm Clive, obviously”, Clive said introducing himself.

“I'd better tell you now. My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you try to kill us”, Rose said.

“No, good point. No murders”, Clive agreed. He waved at Mickey who nods back.

“Who is it?” a woman called from upstairs.

“Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. They’ve been reading the website”, Clive called back. He turned to the sisters “Please, come through. I'm in the shed”.

Rose and Samantha followed Clive out into the garden to the shed. Inside there were various bits and pieces of paper on the walls and covering the tables. Someone needs to get out more”, Samantha murmured quietly to Rose making her smile.

“A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean”, Clive explained to the girls “If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place” Clive pulled out a thick blue file and turned back around to face Rose and Samantha “Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories” he placed the file on top of a stack of books and opened it “No first name, no last name, just the Doctor. Always the Doctor. And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance”, Clive explained as he showed them around. He pointed to the computer screen where a photograph of the Doctor was displayed. “That's your Doctor there, isn't it?” he asked.

“That’s him”, Samantha confirmed.

“I tracked it down to the Washington public archive last year. The online photo’s enhanced, but if we look at the original…” Clive pulled out a set photographs from the folder. Samantha frowned as he showed the photo’s to them, pointing the Doctor out in the crowd. He looked exactly the same as he did when they met him.

“November 22nd 1963…”

“Assassination of President Kennedy”, Samantha murmured. She’d paid particular attention in school when it came to history as it had always interested her. That coupled with River Song’s talk, helped her to decide to pursue a career in archaeology.

“It must be his father”, Rose said looking at the photo.

“Going further back...April 1912” Clive brought over a photo album and showed the girls a black and white photograph “this is a photo of the Daniels family, Southampton. And friend” he points to the Doctor wearing clothing typical of the time period. Once again he looked exactly the same. _This is impossible. Who exactly is this Doctor?_ Samantha thought staring at the photo. “This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World. On the Titanic. And for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. And…” Clive showed them a sketch of the Doctor. Again he looked identical to the other photographs. “1883. Another Doctor. And look – same lineage. He’s identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion”

“Who's that?” Rose asked.

“Death” Rose and Samantha exchanged looks at that.

Outside Clive’s house, Mickey shift’s in the driver’s seat of his car, bored. He looks around at the quiet street unaware of the wheelie bin that was shuffling towards his car.

“If the Doctor's back…if you've seen him, Rose…Sam… then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger”

~outside~

Mickey glanced at Clive’s house wondering if he should go get Rose and Samantha as they’d been in there for some time. A noise causes him to turn his attention away from the house. That was when he noticed the black wheelie bin close to his car. He was pretty sure that was further away when he parked. He was about to look back at Clive’s house when he saw the bin start to move. Mickey stared as it shuffled even closer to his car. He gets out of his car and goes to the now stationary bin, looking around it to see if he could find out what was making it move. He didn’t see anything.

Thinking it was possibly some kid messing around he quickly lifted up the lid. It was empty.

~Clive’s shed~

 “If he's singled you out Sam then God help you”, Clive said seriously. Rose looked at her adopted sister worried. It sounded like this man was dangerous. And the fact that Samantha had met him… she could be in danger. 

~outside~

Mickey closed the bin confused. Something had to be moving the bin. They don’t just move around on their own but there wasn’t anyone inside the bin and there wasn’t anything, that he could see, on the outside of the bin which would explain how it moved.

He shook his head. Maybe he was just seeing things. Mickey stepped away from the bin and was surprise to find that his hands wouldn’t move. He pulled them but they wouldn’t budge. They seemed to be stuck to the bin. Mickey took several steps backward pulling even harder in an attempt to free his hands. The bin stretches as he pulled, unwilling to let him go.

Suddenly Mickey was yanked towards the bin whose lid opens up. The wheelie bin pulls him inside, shutting its lid with a satisfied burp.

~Clive’s shed~

 “Who do you think he is Clive?” Samantha asked curious to know his thoughts about the Doctor.

“I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world”, Clive answered. Samantha could tell that he really believed what he was saying. And it made her wonder, was Clive really a nutter or was he telling the truth about the Doctor? Given what she’d been seen and been through the night before and just that morning, she was more leaning towards the latter option.   

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know I think we should do something tonight, the three of us”, Rose suggested as she got into the car completely unaware that the Mickey in the driver’s seat wasn’t the real one.

“Like what?” Samantha asked knowing that Rose wanted to do something to get her mind off of what Clive told her. To be honest after last night and almost being strangled by a plastic arm that morning, Samantha was looking forward to a nice normal evening.

“How about getting a pizza?” Rose suggested.

“Sounds good to me”, Samantha agreed.

“Mickey?” Rose asked.

Pizzaa! Yeah” he started the car “P-p-pizza!”

Samantha and Rose clutched their seats as Mickey drove down the road weaving all over the place.


	5. Stopping the Nestine Consciousness

~restaurant~

“Do you think I should try the hospital?” Rose asked “Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips?”  

“How about trying for A levels?” Samantha suggested feeling slightly uncomfortable under Mickey’s stare. There was something about him that felt off.

“I don’t know Sammy. I’m not as clever as you”, Rose said.

“Yes you are. I recon if you put your mind to it, you could easily do A levels”, Samantha said.

“What do you think Mickey?” Rose asked wanting her boyfriend’s opinion.

“So, where did you meet this Doctor? “ Mickey asked Samantha seemingly ignoring Rose’s question.

“I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?” Rose said a bit put out that Mickey just ignored her.

“Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?” Mickey pressed.

“No”, Samantha replied confused as to how he knew about the Doctor. Rose must’ve told him. She definitely didn’t.

“Come on”, Mickey urged.

“No he didn’t”, Samantha repeated.

“Yes he did”, Rose said causing Samantha to give her a look.

“What was he doing there?” Mickey questioned.

“I don’t know”, Samantha answered “to be honest I don’t want to go on about it”.

“But you can trust me, Sam, Sammy, Samantha” both girls looked at him in confusion when he said that “I’m your friend, you can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Sam. Because that's all I really want to do Sam, Sammy, Samantha”

 “What're you doing that for?” Rose asked wondering why Mickey was saying different variations of her adopted sister’s name like that.

“Your champagne”, a voice in a northern accent said.

“We didn't order any champagne”, Mickey said dismissively. Not even bothering to look at the waiter. He grabbed Samantha’s hand and pins it to the table “Where's the Doctor?” he demanded.

“Let go of my hand”, Samantha said.

“Not until you tell me where the Doctor is”, Mickey said.

“I don’t know”, Samantha said. She glanced at her pinned hand and noticed that the parts of her hand not covered by the glove where starting to shimmer gold. Not wanting a repeat of earlier, Samantha quickly added “now let my hand go, please”.

Mickey just ignored her and tightened his grip on her hand. Rose seeing that Mickey was actually hurting her sister, she spoke up “Mickey you’re hurting her. Let her go”. Once again Mickey, or more accurately fake Mickey ignored her request.

“Doesn't anybody want this champagne?” the waiter asked again. Exasperated, Mickey looked up to talk to the waiter and saw it was the Doctor.

“Ah. Gotcha”, Mickey said.

The Doctor shook the champagne “Don't mind me. I'm just toasting three good friends. On the house!” he aimed the bottle at Mickey and released the cork. Both Samantha and Rose watched as the cork was absorbed into Mickey’s forehead. He then spat it out before standing up. Samantha pulled Rose back as Mickey smashed the table in with his hands that he’d turned into clubs. The Doctor grabs Mickey and after a moment of struggling, he pulled off his head.

That made the other customers freak out. Rose raced to the fire alarm by the door and triggered it. “Everyone out! Out now! Get out!” she shouted. Customers get up from their tables and race for the front doors as fake Mickey flailed around having lost his head.

Once everyone had left, the Doctor, Rose and Samantha make their own escape via the kitchens. Samantha stopped and stared when she saw the blue police box just outside. Rose didn’t take any notice of it, racing over to a pair of locked gates. “Sammy help me”, she called snapping the brunette out of her thoughts. Samantha went over to the gates and together they pushed at them. They were locked.

“Doctor you’ve got that tube thing”, Samantha said.

“What this?” the Doctor asked holding it up “this is a sonic screwdriver”.

“Can it unlock a gate?” Samantha queried.

“It can”, the Doctor replied.

“Well then use it!” Rose said desperately wanting to get away from the headless Mickey that was pounding on the back door.

“Nah. Tell ya what, let’s go in here”, the Doctor said unlocking the police box and stepped inside.

“We can’t hide in a wooden box!” Rose exclaimed not moving. Samantha on the other hand, made no hesitation in following the Doctor inside. “Sammy!” Rose cried running after her. She stopped dead when she saw that the box was bigger on the inside!

Slightly overwhelmed by this, she runs out Samantha watching her go. She was very surprised by the sheer size of the inside compared to the out but she didn’t react the way Rose just did. “Rather roomy in here, you’d never have guessed from the outside”, she remarked as the Doctor wired the head into the console. “What are you doing with that head?”

“I’m wiring it into the console so I can use it to trace the signal that was controlling back to original source”, the Doctor explained “the arm was too simple but the head’s perfect”.

Samantha was about to ask him how he knew where to find the plastic arm when Rose came rushing back in yelling “It’s gonna follow us!”

“The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried”, the Doctor informed her. He finished up wiring the head to the console and turned to the girls “Right. Where do you want to start?”

“The inside's bigger than the outside”, Samantha stated as she closed the door.

“Yes it is”, the Doctor replied.

“It's alien”, Rose said.

“Yeah”, the Doctor confirmed.

“Are you alien?” Rose asked.

“Yes”, the Doctor answered.

“But you look human”, Samantha pointed out.

“No you look Time Lord. We came first”

“Time Lord? Is that your species?” the brunette asked.

“Yes it is. It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S. That's Time and Relative Dimension in Space”, the Doctor explained. Rose then burst into tears. Samantha put her arms around her sister.

“Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?” Rose asked through her tears.

“Oh. I didn't think of that”, the Doctor said. Rose stepped away from Samantha and glared at him

“He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think?” Rose said angrily.

“And now you’re going to let the head melt?” Samantha asked seeing that the head was doing just that.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no!” he exclaimed running around the console pushing buttons and flicking switches.

“What are you doing?!” Rose demanded as the TARDIS started to shake and a wheezing noise filled the room.

“Reviving the signal, it’s fading! Wait I’ve got it…” the Doctor glanced at the screen “No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!” Rose and Samantha grabbed hold of the railing tightly as the shaking grew worse “Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!”

After a few moments the wheezing and shaking stopped. “You can’t go out there, it’s not safe!” Rose called after the Doctor who’d just run out of the TARDIS. “Sammy!” she shouted after her sister who quickly followed the man out of the box without any hesitation.

The brunette was surprised to see that they were on the Thames Embankment. “I lost the signal. I was so close”, the Doctor told her as Rose hesitantly stepped out of the TARDIS.

“We've moved”, Rose stated seeing that their surroundings had changed “does it fly?”

“Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand”, the Doctor replied.

“What happened to that headless thing? Did it melt with the head?” Samantha questioned.

“Yes”, the Doctor replied.

“I’ll have to tell his mother that he’s dead” Rose said quietly causing the Doctor and Samantha to look at her.

“He could still be alive Rose”, Samantha said.

“You think so Sam?” Rose asked her hopeful.

“Without a doubt Rosie”, Samantha replied confidently.

“Who are you two talking about?” the Doctor asked.

“Mickey”, Rose replied.

“You know, the guy who was replaced with the plastic copy?” Samantha elaborated.

“Oh him”, the Doctor said.

“You forgot him? Again?” Rose said angrily.

“Look, if I did forget some kid called Ricky…” the Doctor began.

“Mickey”, Rose corrected him.

“It’s because I’m trying to save the life of every stupid ape…” he continued as if Rose hadn’t spoken.

“Hey!” Samantha protested taking offence to his comment about her species.

“…Blundering on top of this planet, alright?”

“Alright!” Rose shouted.

“Yes! It is!” the Doctor shot back. Rose shook her head in disbelief.

“If you’re an alien, how come you sound like you’re from the North?” Samantha asked after a few moment of tense silence.

“Lots of planets have a North”, the Doctor replied folding his arms indignantly, looking away.

“So this living plastic. What has it got against us?” Samantha questioned.

“Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air…perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth…dinner!”

“Any way of stopping it?” Rose asked.

“Anti-plastic”, the Doctor replied holding up a vial of blue liquid. “But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?”

“Hide what?” Rose and Samantha asked together.

“The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal”

“What's it look like?” Samantha asked.

“Like a transmitter. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing”, the Doctor said facing them. Samantha looked at the London Eye which fitted his description perfectly. She nudged Rose and gestured to the landmark when she looked at her. The blonde’s eyes widened in realisation as she looked at the London Eye.

“What?” the Doctor asked turning around to see what the girls are staring at but doesn’t make the connection. He turns around to look at what their staring at again, still he doesn’t get it. “What is it?” he asked confused.

Samantha sighed and turned him around to face the London Eye “a wheel shaped metal structure…”

“Oh. Fantastic!” the Doctor said when it finally dawned on him what the two girls were looking at. He takes Samantha’s hand and they run.

The Doctor and Samantha race across the London Bridge towards the London Eye, Rose close behind them. It doesn’t take the trio long to reach the landmark, where Rose discovers the entrance to the Nestine Chamber.  “The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature”, the Doctor explains as to the girls as they see a large vat filled with liquid plastic while they’re descending the metal steps.

“Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go”, Rose said.

“I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance”, the Doctor told her. They descended another set of steps where the Doctor leans over the railing at the bottom to address the Nestine Consciousness. “I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation”. Samantha and Rose watched the gloop wobble around as if it was answering the Doctor. “Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?”

Rose looked over the other side and spotted Mickey on a lower level. The Doctor rolls his eyes as she runs over to him. “Samantha you were right! They kept him alive!” she said happily crouching down beside a terrified Mickey.

“Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy”, the Doctor said.

“You knew? Why didn’t you say anything?” Samantha asked following him down one level lower than Rose and Mickey.

“Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?” the Doctor said to her.

“Rude”, Samantha muttered. She hung back on the steps as the Doctor spoke to the Nestine.

“If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?”

 _Not sure insulting a vat of goop is the best idea_ Samantha thought as a frowny face appeared in the goop, making angry noises “Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights” the Consciousness reared what appeared to be its ‘head’ angrily “I…am…talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go”

“Doctor!” Samantha shouted as two dummies came up behind him. But before he could do anything, they grabbed him.

“That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you”, he insisted after one of them removed the anti-plastic from his pocket. Samantha watched a door slide back to reveal the TARDIS.

“What’s happening?” Samantha asked as the stuff in the liquid continued to roar.

“It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Samantha run!”

“I’m not leaving you”

“Samantha please go!” the Doctor pleaded the Nestene started the invasion.

 “No”, she said firmly. She looked around for a way to save him and she found it.

“There's nothing you can do Sammy”, Mickey shouted at her as she ran up the stairs.

Samantha snatched up the emergency axe and hurried to where a chain was attached to the wall by a rope. She hacked through it as Rose and Mickey made their way to were the TARDIS was. Samantha gripped now freed chain “gymnastic skills don’t fail me now”, she said before taking a run up and jumping off the edge. She kicks once of the plastic dummies into the vat as she swung past and the Doctor tosses the other one in. The vial of anti-plastic also falls in causing the Nestene Consciousness to writhe and scream.

“Samantha!” the Doctor shouted grabbing her as she swung back “Now we're in trouble”, he added as parts of the Nestene chamber starts to explode. The pair dash to the TARDIS where Rose and Mickey were huddled. The Doctor quickly unlocked the blue box and they all hurry in.

When the TARDIS appeared on the Embankment, Mickey rushed out eager to get away from the blue box and the Doctor. Rose goes over to him to calm him down. The Doctor leans against the TARDIS “Nestene Consciousness?” he snaps his fingers “Easy”

Samantha put her hands on her hips “oh really? You'd be dead if it wasn't for me”, she retorted.

“Yes, I would. Thank you”, the Doctor said “Right then, I'll be off, unless, uh…I don't know…you could come with me”, he offered “This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge”

“Don’t! He’s an alien! He’s a thing!” Mickey exclaimed.

“He’s _not_ invited. What do you think? You could stay here and fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go, uh…anywhere”

“Is it always this dangerous?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah”, the Doctor replied.

Mickey put his arms around Rose’s legs which Samantha noticed. Travelling with the Doctor sounded incredibly tempting but what about Jackie? She couldn’t leave her adoptive mother to go running off with a strange man and there was no guarantee that she’d be completely safe with the Doctor. Considering he’d just said it himself, it was always going to be that dangerous. Because of that she couldn’t go “thanks for the offer but I can’t go with you”

“Me neither. Someone’s got to look after this stupid lump”, Rose said patting Mickey’s back.

“Ok. See you two around”. Samantha, Rose and Mickey watched as the Doctor stepped into the TARDIS and closed the door. The noise that Samantha heard earlier started up and before their eyes, the blue box disappeared.

The sisters help Mickey to his feet and start to walk away when they heard the noise again. The trio spin around to see the TARDIS reappearing. The Doctor poked his head out “By the way…did I mention, it also travels in time?” he said with a grin.

Rose turned to her boyfriend and kissed him on the cheek “Thanks”

“Thanks for what?” Mickey asked confused.

“Exactly”, Rose replied with a smile. She ran into the TARDIS while her still confused boyfriend watched.

“Sammy you aren’t going are you?” he asked the brunette.

“I have to Mickey. Got to take care of my sister”, Samantha replied “do me a favour, drop in on my mum and let her know we’ve decided to go travelling. Don’t want her worrying”. Mickey didn’t have time to say anything because Samantha walked into the TARDIS and closed the door.


	6. First trip

“Right then, Rose and Samantha Tyler, you tell me. Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. It's your choice. What's it going to be?” the Doctor asked going over to the console.

“Forwards”, Rose replied.

The Doctor pressed a few buttons “How far?”

Rose looked at her sister “100 years?” she asked her.

“Sounds good to me”, Samantha agreed. The Doctor pulls a lever and turns a knob. The three of them hold on as the TARDIS shakes for a moment.

“There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the 22nd century”, the Doctor said gesturing to the doors.

“You're kidding”, Rose said.

“That's a bit boring, though. Do you want to go further?” the Doctor asked.

“Why not?” Samantha said at the same time as Rose said

“Fine by me”

The Doctor starts the engines up again. After another the TARDIS shook for a bit longer the Time Lord said “10,000 years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire”

“You think you're so impressive”, Rose said teasingly.

“I am so impressive”, the Doctor protested.

“You wish!” the sisters said in unison.

“Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go” he revs up the engine, pumping a lever furiously “Hold on!” the TARDIS shook as it hurtled through the time vortex. The TARDIS comes to a stop with a pinging noise.

“Where are we?” The Doctor didn’t say anything just gestured towards the doors. Rose and Samantha smiled excitedly. “What's out there?” Rose questioned. Again the Doctor just gestured towards the doors. Rose ran down the ramp followed by Samantha. The two of them found themselves inside a wooden room. The Doctor goes over to a panel and uses his sonic on it to open the shutter covering the large window. 

The trio walk down the steps and find themselves looking down at planet Earth “You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26. 5 billion years in your future, and this is the day…hold on…” the Doctor looked at his watch glancing up as the sun flares and turns red. “This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world”

\------------

_Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite._

“So, when it says guests, does that mean people?” Rose asked as they walked down the corridor.

“Depends what you mean by people”, the Doctor said.

“I mean people”, Rose said “What do you mean?”

“Aliens”, the Doctor said answering Rose’s question.

“What are they doing on board this spaceship?” Samantha asked

“It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn”, the Doctor replied using his sonic on a wall panel. The door slid open.

“What for?” Rose asked.

“Fun” they walked into a very large room. “Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich”, the Doctor said as they crossed the room to a set of windows.

“The planet looks the same. I thought they shifted over time”, Samantha said gazing at her home planet.

“They did, and the National Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over”, the Doctor said.  

“How much longer has it got?” Rose asked.

The Doctor looked at his watch and said “about half an hour. And the planet gets roasted”.

 _He sounds way too happy about that_ Samantha thought as she looked out at the Earth. She was saddened that her home only had half an hour left but she could take comfort in the fact that the Earth had lasted 5 billion years. “Is that why we’re here? I mean is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save Earth?” Rose asked.

“I’m not saving it. Time’s up”, the Doctor replied.

“Please tell me there’s no people down there”, Samantha said really hoping that the planet was empty.

“There isn’t. They’ve all gone, spread out across the stars”, the Doctor assured her.

“Good”, Samantha said happy to know that by the year 5 billion, humans had managed to go to other planets, eventually calling the habitable ones ‘home’.

“Who the hell are you?” a blue skinned alien demanded as he strolled towards them. 

“Oh! That’s nice, thanks”, the Doctor said slightly offended by his tone.

“But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now”, the alien said fretting.

“That's me. I'm a guest”, the Doctor said pulling out his psychic paper. “Look, I've got an invitation. The Doctor and companions” the Doctor showed the blue alien the psychic paper “I'm the Doctor, this is Samantha and Rose Tyler. They’re my companions. Is that all right?”

“Well…obviously” The Doctor grins “Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy”, the blue skinned alien, the Steward went over to a lecturn.

The moment he left, the Doctor showed Rose and Samantha the leather wallet “The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time”, he explained.

“I’ll bet it does”, Samantha said “you know you can call me Sam if you like, instead of Samantha. But that’s up to you”. She didn’t mind him calling her by her full name but she wanted to let the Doctor know that he could call her by Sam instead.

“How about Sammy?” the Doctor asked.

“No”, Samantha replied. 

“Why not?” the Doctor questioned.

“Because I don’t want you to”, Samantha said. There were only a few people she let call her Sammy and as she barely knew the Doctor, she wasn’t going to allow him to call her that. Yet.

“We have in attendance the Doctor, Rose Tyler and Samantha Tyler”, the steward announced catching their attention “Thank you! All staff to their positions” the Steward clapped his hands and the trio watched several small blue people started scurrying around. “Hurry now! Thank you quick as we can! Come along, come along. And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest representing the Forest of Cheem, we have Trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa”.

The three time travellers watched as three tree-like people walk through the doors. “There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace”, the steward explained “If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon”

The Doctor grinned as another small blue alien entered sitting on a cushioned remote controlled seat. Samantha looked on rather interested by this new alien while Rose looked slightly bewildered. “And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme”

A group of black robed beings entered the room. “The inventors of Hypo-slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen”

Two fur clad reptilian type aliens entered.

“Cal ‘Spark Plug’”

Two more aliens walked in wearing floor length robes with large dome hoods.

“Mister and Mrs Pakoo”

Two bird like beings came in next.

“The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light”

Another two, goblin like aliens entered. Jabe and her two companions approach the Doctor, Samantha and Rose. “The Gift of Peace”, Jabe said handing the Doctor a small pot with a little twig sticking out of the soil “I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather”.

“Thank you!” the Doctor gives the potted plant to Rose “yes, gifts…erm…” he patted his pockets for something to give Jabe but he couldn’t find anything. “I give you in return air from my lungs”, the Doctor said before gently breathing over Jabe.

“How…intimate”, Jabe said softly.

“There's more where that came from”, the Doctor said flirtatiously.

“I bet there is…”

Samantha and Rose exchanged looks as the Time Lord flirted with a tree. It wasn’t something either of them had expected. Their attention was drawn back to the Steward who announced “From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe” The large double doors slid back and a large glass case containing a giant humanoid head wheeled itself in.

“The Moxx of Balhoon”, the Doctor said cheerfully as the blue alien came up to the trio.

“My felicitations on this historical happenstance”, Moxx greeted “I give you the gift of bodily salivas”.

Samantha screwed up her face in disgust as Moxx spat in her sister’s face. “Thank you very much”, the Doctor said not even trying to stop himself from laughing. The Time Lord breathed on the alien and he went on his way.

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme were the next aliens to approach the trio. “Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs”, the Doctor said breathing heavily over them all.

 “A gift of peace in all good faith”, one of the Adherent’s said holding out a large silver egg which the Doctor took, tossing it up into the air and catching it before handing it over to Samantha.

“And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the Last Human”

Samantha’s eyes widened when, the last human came through the door. It was a piece of skin stretched out on a frame which had eyes and a mouth. Not what either Tyler had expected. “The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen”, the steward introduced her as.

“Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am” the Doctor laughed silently and looks at the girls who were rather shocked by the appearance of the Last Human. “Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand”, Cassandra said. She then had one of her attendants bring in a large egg. Samantha had to roll her eyes at Cassandra’s description of an Ostrich _that’s definitely not what they look like_. The next gift the Last Human produced was something she called an IPod. _Juke box_ Samantha corrected in her mind.

One of the staff who brought in the jukebox pressed a button and _Tainted Love_ began to play. Rose looks around the room taking in all the aliens. There were no other humans present with the exception of Samantha. That rather overwhelmed her and she ran out of the room. Samantha chased after her, not wanting her to be on her own.

The brunette was about to call out to her when she heard a cracking sound. Samantha looked down and saw the silver sphere in her hand had started to fracture. It was also faintly glowing gold just like the exposed part of her hand was. She quickly set it down on the floor and stepped back watching as the sphere shattered before her very eyes. Samantha gingerly approached the small pile of broken sphere knowing the last time the gold stuff made its appearance was with the living plastic.

She crouched down and carefully picked at the debris. “What the…?” Samantha said frowning when she discovered what appeared to be a mini robot. A pretty destroyed robot, thanks to the gold stuff but a robot all the same. Knowing that she should tell the Doctor about her discovery, she took out her phone and snapped a couple of pictures. Samantha then swept the pieces out of the way, so that they wouldn’t be found before she had a chance to show the Doctor, and continued on her way to find her sister.


	7. Sabotage!

Samantha found Rose in the same room they’d first arrived in. “hey Rosie. Talking to your descendant?” Samantha asked nodding to the plant in her hand.

“No”, Rose said setting the plant down. When Samantha gave her a look, she corrected herself “ok yes, I was. You probably think that’s weird”.

“Not really”, Samantha said sitting down next to her “you remember the time I had that house plant and I would talk to it?” she asked.

Rose smiled as she remembered “oh yeah, I do. You used to say that talking to plants helps them to grow”, she laughed.

“Well probably talking to that little twig may help it to grow”, Samantha suggested “considering it’s a cutting from Jabe’s grandfather, it may work”.

“Possibly but I’m not going to have lengthy conversations with it”, Rose said.

Samantha was about to ask her if she could have the plant when the Doctor entered the room. “Aye, aye!” he greeted sitting down on the other side of the stairs “What do you two think, then?”

“Great! Yeah…fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper…” Rose replied getting a laugh out of the Doctor. After a brief pause, she spoke again “They're just so alien. The aliens are so alien. You look at 'em…and they're alien”

“Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South”, the Doctor joked.

“Where are you from?” Samantha asked curious.

“All over the place”, the Doctor replied vaguely.

“They all speak English”, Rose stated.

“No, you just _hear_ English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates”, the Doctor explained.

“Hold on, your machine gets inside our minds?” Samantha asked worriedly.

“Well, in a good way”, the Doctor assured the brunette.

“Really? You’re not just saying that?” Samantha asked.

“Really. Without it you wouldn’t understand a word those aliens were saying”, the Doctor said.

“Good point”, Samantha said. Now she thought about it, it was really handy having the TARDIS translate the alien languages. It would be very difficult to have a conversation with them if you couldn’t understand them.

Rose was less happy about that fact “Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?” Rose said in a colder tone, starting to sound angry.

“I didn't think about it like that”, the Doctor said thrown by the way Rose was acting.

“No! You were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South. Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?” Rose demanded.

“I'm just the Doctor”, the Doctor said getting defensive.

“From what planet?” Rose asked.

“Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!” the Doctor argued back.

“Where are you from?” Rose questioned.

“Rosie I don’t think…” Samantha began when the Doctor spoke over her.

“What does it matter?” the Doctor asked.

“Tell us who you are!” Rose pressed.

“This is who I am, right here, right now, alright? All that counts is here and now, and this is me!” the Doctor shouted, suddenly angry.

“Yeah well Sammy and I are here too because you brought here so just tell us!” Rose shouted back.  The Doctor gets up and walks down the steps.

_Earth Death in twenty minutes. Earth Death in twenty minutes._

After a few moments the sisters get up and join him at the window “All right. As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver”, Rose said.

“And we can’t exactly call for a taxi”, Samantha added remembering how there was no signal on her phone when she took the photo of the smashed up sphere “I’d say we’re out of range by just a tad”.

“Tell you what. Do you two have phones?” the Doctor asked turning to them.

Samantha and Rose took out their phones. The Doctor took Rose’s phone and removed the back “With a little bit of jiggery pokery”, he said.

“Is that a technical term, ‘jiggery pokery’?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?” the Doctor asked.

“Nah, I failed hullabaloo”, Rose joked getting a laugh out of the Doctor and a smile from Samantha. She was happy to see that they’d made up from the argument they just had.

The Doctor put in a new battery “There you go” he gave it back to Rose. She took it back and looks at him uncertainly. The Doctor nods in encouragement and Rose got up her contacts. She chose the home phone and dialled. Rose had an astonished look on her face when the phone started to ring.

While Rose spoke to her mother, the Doctor took Samantha’s phone to switch around the batteries. “Thanks”, Samantha said when he gave the phone back.

“Don’t you want to try it out?” the Doctor asked.

“I’ll try later. There’s actually something I wanted to tell you. It’s about the…” Samantha broke off when the room started to shake.

“That's not supposed to happen”, the Doctor said sounding pleased and curious at the same time. He turned to Samantha “there was something you wanted to tell me?”

“Yeah but it can wait. We better find out why the place shook”, Samantha replied.

\-------------

~Manchester Suite~

“That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that”, the Doctor said as he fiddled with a control panel. While he was doing that, Jabe approached them “What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?” The Time Lord said turning to the tree woman.

“It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me”, Jabe replied.

“Where's the engine room?” the Doctor asked.

“I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite, I could show you and your companions”, Jabe offered gesturing to the sisters.

“Actually I’m going to talk to the last human but you two go ahead”, Rose said.

“You sure?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah I’m sure. Let me know what you find”, Rose said.

“Actually I’m gonna stay too”, Samantha said “three’s a crowd”. The Doctor was surprised that Samantha wanted to stay too but didn’t press the issue. Instead he left the Manchester Suite with Jabe.

As soon as he’d gone the sisters approached Cassandra. “Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy”, the ‘last human’ said. 

“Don’t you mean little girl?” Samantha spoke up.

“Down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice. I'd have such fun”, Cassandra continued as if she hadn’t said anything.

“The Doctor told us that the rest of the human race spread out across the stars. So, you're not actually the last human”, Rose pointed out.

“I am the last _pure_ human”, Cassandra corrected, emphasising the word ‘pure’ “The others…mingled. Oh, they call themselves ‘New humans’ and ‘Proto-humans’ and ‘Digi-humans’, even 'Human-ish’, but you know what I call them? Mongrels”.

“Right. And you stayed behind”, Samantha said wondering how could Cassandra be so disgusted with the fact that humans had managed to survive, to endure through co-existing with other races. Evolving into something new.

“I kept myself pure”, Cassandra said proudly.

“How many operations have you had?” Rose asked eyeing her.

“708. Next week, its 709. I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You both could be flatter, got a little bit of a chin poking out”.

Samantha raised her eyebrows at Cassandra. She was perfectly content with the way she was. Unlike the skin trampoline in front of herself and Rose.

“I'd rather die”, Rose stated.

“Honestly, it doesn't hurt…”

“No, I mean it. I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchy trampoline”, Rose informed her. Samantha nodded in agreement.

“Oh, well. What do you know”, Cassandra scoffed.

“Rose and I were born on that planet and so was our parents. That makes us _officially_ the last human beings”, Samantha told her.

“‘Cos you’re not human”, Rose added “You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking”. The twins then walked away, Cassandra glaring after them.

“Nice work Rosie”, Samantha said holding out her fist. Rose grinned and fist bumped her adopted sister.

\--------------------

Samantha and Rose walked along a corridor, heading back to the room where they’d first arrived in. Approaching them was the Adherents of the Repeated Meme. As the black robed group passed, Rose politely nodded to them. Suddenly the nearest one swung his arm out, knocking the blonde teen to the floor. “Rose!” Samantha exclaimed before she too smacked off her feet. The brunette quickly rolled out of the way to avoid another hit and jumped to her feet.

Samantha raised her arms to block a third punch, quickly grabbing her attacker’s arm. She swung her foot as hard as she could, kicking him in the chest. She got a nasty shock when the man stumbled back, leaving his arm still firmly in her grip. Samantha gaped at the wires sticking out of the shoulder. The Adherents of the repeated were robots!

Her attention was drawn to the arm when she heard cracking, her eyes widening when she saw that her hands was glowing gold, just like they did before. She flung the arm away and watched as it shattered into a dozen pieces, the Adherents falling to the floor like dominoes.

“Bloody hell”


	8. Saving Platform One

The Doctor came across Samantha and Rose just as the blonde was coming to. “Sam, Rose are you two ok?” the Time Lord asked looking at them concerned.

“I’m fine”, Samantha replied helping her sister to her feet.

“I’m ok”, Rose said rubbing her head “man those guys hit hard”, she grumbled.

“Uh, they’re not guys Rosie. They’re robots”, Samantha said nodding over to the Adherents. The Doctor went over and crouched down, scanning one with his sonic.

“Remote controlled droids”, he stated. The Doctor stood up and faced his companions “nice little cover for the real trouble maker behind these things” he took the silver spider from his pocket.

“That was the thing inside the silver egg the Adherents gave us”, Samantha said getting out her phone and showing the Doctor the photo she took of the pieces of ‘spider’.

“And lets see who the real troublemaker is”, the Doctor said. He used his sonic on the spider to activate it and then set it down on the floor. The trio watched it scuttle away and quickly followed after it.

\----------------

The Doctor, Samantha and Rose rushed into the Manchester Suite after the silver spider. They watched as it scuttled over to Cassandra. “Lady Cassandra…I should’ve known”, The Time Lord said folding his arms.

“I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed”, Cassandra remarked. The Doctor simply raised his eyebrows “At arms!” the ‘last human’ ordered. Her attendants raised their spray guns at the trio. 

“What are you going to do, moisturise us?” the Doctor mocked.

“With acid”, Cassandra sneered. At that Samantha moved closer to Rose, preparing to pull her away at a moments notice. “Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face”, Cassandra gloated.

“Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?” the Doctor asked.

“I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous”, Cassandra explained.

Samantha shook her head _money. It’s always down to money_ she thought. The Doctor thought the same and told Cassandra so.

“Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not those freaky little kids of yours”, Cassandra said.

“Have you looked the mirror lately? You’re just a psychotic trampoline. My sister and I are the last humans here, not you”, Samantha said angrily. She was still seething over the fact that the Adherents aka Cassandra’s droids had attacked her younger sister.

 “Arrest her, the infidel…” Moxx began.

“Oh, shut it, pixie”, Cassandra snapped at Moxx “I've still got my final option”.

_Earth Death in three minutes_

“And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn”

“Then you'll burn with us”, Jabe pointed out

“Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate”. The place shook from multiple explosions. “Force fields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me”

_Safety systems failing_

“Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings”, Cassandra said smugly before vanishing with her two attendants.

_Heat levels rising_

“Reset the computer”, Moxx said.

“Only the Steward would know how”, Jabe reminded him.

“No. We can do it by hand”, the Doctor said “There must be a system restore switch. Sam, Rose, Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill”.

\-----------------

 “Oh. And guess where the switch is”, the Doctor said seeing it on the other side of 3 fast spinning fans.

“You didn’t think it was going to be easy did you?” Samantha asked.

_Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising_

The Doctor pulled a lever on the breaker and the fans slowed down. However when he let go, the fans picked up the pace. 

_External temperature five thousand degrees_

Samantha pulled of her jumped, placed it on the bar and pulling it down “Sam…”

“Doctor you’re wasting time”, she said interrupting him. Seeing that he wasn’t going to be able to change her mind, not in the time they had, the Doctor walked up to the first fan.

_Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising_

“Samantha I should be the one holding the lever”, Jabe said to the girl.

“No. If you do you’ll burn. Jabe you need to go”, she looked at the tree woman “please”. Jabe nodded and left the engine room. “Rose you, need to go as well”, Samantha said.

“I’m not leaving you Sam”, Rose said adamantly.

“Yes, you are”, Samantha said sternly “I need you to make sure Jabe stays safe” when Rose hesitated, she added “I’ll be fine, I promise”.

“You better come back in one piece”, Rose said giving her a look.

“Sister’s honour”, Samantha promised. Rose nodded and left the room as well. As soon as she was gone, Samantha tightened her grip on the lever and glanced over at the Doctor. He was right by the second fan. The brunette cringed as she started to feel the heat through both the gloves and the jumper. _I’m not gonna let go. I’m not gonna let go_ she thought.

_Heat levels critical._

The Doctor ducked under the second fan.

_Heat levels critical_

“Hurry Doctor”, Samantha panted, a sheen of sweat appearing over her skin. The heat had increased substantially, effectively destroying her jumper. She screwed her nose up and the burnt material smell and continued to hold onto the bar. “Don’t let go girl. Whatever you do don’t let go”, she muttered to herself.

Suddenly she felt a searing pain in her hands, causing her to cry out. The heat had burned through the gloves.

Still Samantha refused to let go. She watched the Doctor duck under the fan just as the computer reached 4 in the countdown. “Raise shields!” the Doctor said pulling the switch on the reset breaker.

Samantha released the lever and collapsed to the floor shaking. She stared at the exposed parts of her hands which badly burnt. Her eyes widened when a golden glow appeared over those parts of her skin as the Doctor quickly back across the catwalk, easily passing under the fans as they’d slowed down substantially. By the time he reached her, the golden glow was gone and the burns she sustained when non-existent.

She hid her hands behind her back as he knelt down “let me see”, the Doctor said.

“I’m fine”, Samantha insisted.

“Samantha let me see”, the Doctor said a little more firmly. She sighed and moved her hands from behind her back. The Doctor gently tugged off the ruined gloves from her hands and was very surprised to see her skin unmarked by burns.

“Told you I’m fine”, she said.

“Yes you did” the Doctor said helping her to her feet. Together they left the engine room and headed back to the Manchester Suite.

\-------------

Rose rushed over to her sister as soon as she saw her and hugged her tightly. “Told you I’d be back in one piece”, Samantha said.

“Yeah you…” Rose trailed off when she noticed Samantha’s bare hands “You’re not wearing your gloves”, she stated.

 “They got a little damaged” _not sure what I’m going to say to Jemma_ Samantha thought knowing that she couldn’t tell the British woman the truth. She’ll just think of something to tell her later.

“But you’re not hurt?” Jabe asked having come over while the two of them were hugging.

“Nope”, Samantha answered, popping the p.

“You ok Doctor?” Rose asked the Time Lord.

“Yeah, I'm fine”, the Doctor replied though he was _far_ from it, he was actually close to furious. Both his companions had been attacked by Cassandra’s droids and Samantha had come close to receiving serious burns on her hands. “I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby” he strode over to the Ostridge egg and broke it open revealing a small device. “Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed” he twisted the device and Cassandra was beamed back in, minus her attendants.

“The last human”, the Doctor glared.

“So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the er… human club”, Cassandra said sounding a little flustered at the fact she’d been caught.

“People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them”, Samantha stated coming to stand next to the Doctor.

“That depends on your definition of ‘people’. And that’s enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, Doctor! Watch me smile and cry and flutter…”

“And creak?” the Doctor asked with a smirk.

“And what?” Cassandra asked, confused.

“Creak. You're creaking”, he informed her.

“What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturise me, moisturise me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!” Cassandra cried, in a full out panic.

“You raised the temperature”, the Doctor stated.

“Have pity! Moisturise me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything”, Cassandra pleaded as red blotches started to appear on her skin.

“Help her”, Rose said quietly from behind the pair.

“Everything has its time and everything dies”, the Doctor said coldly. He remained unfazed as Cassandra exploded but Samantha and Rose had to look away.

\-------------

Rose stepped out of the TARDIS into a teeming crowd of people a couple of hours later. Samantha and the Doctor joined her. “You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky”, the Doctor said to them. Samantha looked around the high street, seeing everything in a new light. She was definitely not going to take anything for granted. After a moment the Doctor spoke again “My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time”

“What happened?” Rose asked.

“There was a war and we lost”, the Doctor replied.

“What about your people?” Samantha asked. The Doctor hesitated before answering her.

“I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor” Samantha took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze “I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else”

“There's us”, Rose said.

“You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you two want to go home?” the Doctor asked them both. He didn’t blame them if they wanted to stop travelling with him.

“Not yet”, Samantha replied still holding onto his hand “Rose?”

“I don't know”, Rose replied. She was a little unsure if she wanted to continue travelling with the Doctor after that little adventure. The blonde girl sniffed “can you smell chips?”

“Yeah I can”, the Doctor replied.

“Shall we got some?” Samantha asked.

“Sounds like a plan. Doctor you’re buying”, Rose said to the Time Lord.

“No money”, the Doctor said.

“Come on then tightwad, chips are on me”, Rose said linking her arm around the Doctor’s.

“And we’ve got plenty of time to enjoy them. After all its 5 billion years before the shops close”, Samantha added getting a laugh out of both the Doctor and Rose.


	9. I have a twin?

Samantha walked up to the safe house, going over in her mind about all the things that Agent Coulson might possibly want to talk to her about. He’d rung up whilst she was having chips with Rose and the Doctor and told her to come to the safe house. She stepped into the safe house and was met by Eric. “Whats going on?” she asked.

“Come see for yourself”, he answer turning and heading into the lounge. Samantha followed him into and stopped in the door way of the lounge, her eyes widening when she saw an identical looking young woman standing there with Agent Coulson.

“Sam this is Skye. Your twin sister”, Agent Coulson said introducing the young woman beside him.

Samantha stood there staring at Skye, not knowing what to say. She had a sister. Not only that but a twin sister. “Samantha?” Skye asked concerned as she hadn’t said anything about the revelation.

“Sorry I just….uh…” Samantha swallowed and tried again “hello Skye. It’s nice to meet you”, she said extending a hand and Skye shook it. “Would you like to grab a cup of coffee Skye?” Samantha asked thinking that it would easier to talk to her without both agents present. Plus it would be less awkward, or she hoped it would be.

“Sure”, Skye replied.

As they walked, Samantha’s inner self was jumping up and down excited at the fact she had a sister. Not that Rose wasn’t her sister. She was but Skye was her biological sister. They stopped by the walked a little further until they got to a Starbucks that Samantha often stopped by on her way to work at Henricks. “So um where do you want to start?” Skye asked sitting down at a table after they got their coffees.

“I guess the beginning is as good a place as any”, Samantha replied “I was put in an orphanage when I was a baby. As they didn’t know what my name was, they called me Jane Doe”.

“That’s better than what the nuns called me a St Agnes”, Skye said.

“What did they call you?” Samantha asked.

“Mary Sue Poots”, Skye replied screwing up her face in disgust. She really hated that name.

“Eesh. No wonder you changed it”, Samantha remarked “Skye is a much better name”.

“Why did you change yours?” Skye asked.

“I never really liked Jane Doe. The name is used for people who don’t have an identity. It was a constant reminder that I didn’t know who I was. So when Jackie, the woman who adopted me chose the name Samantha, I didn’t hesitate to change my name”, Samantha explained.

“Coulson said you were adopted…” Skye said.

“When I was 6”, Samantha said.

“Lucky you”, Skye said quietly.

“You weren’t…?”

“No. I’ve just been in and out of foster homes. When I was old enough I ran away, changed my name and joined the Rising Tide. All to find out anything I could about my-our parents”, Skye said.

“And did you? Find anything about them?” Samantha asked curios.

“I’m afraid I didn’t”, Skye lied. Despite them being sisters, she didn’t know if she could trust Samantha enough yet to tell her about the document she found. _Once I find out more about our parents, then I’ll come clean_ she thought.

“So um how did you get involved with SHIELD?” Samantha asked trying to hide the disappointment she felt from Skye’s answer.

“I was doing a broadcast for the Rising Tide when suddenly my van door is pulled open by Agent Coulson and Agent Ward. The next thing I know, a bag is put over my head and I’m being taken to their plane…” Samantha listened as Skye told her about her interrogation “…when they come back in they’ve got this truth serum which I thought they were going to use on me. Instead Agent Coulson used it on Ward”, Skye explained.

Samantha let out a laugh “I bet he didn’t see that coming”, she said.

Skye smiled “no he didn’t”, she agreed.

“So you got to have a little interrogation session of your own. You find out anything interesting?” Samantha asked.

“Oh yeah. Ward told me he’s been to Paris but never really seen it and he wished that Coulson had stayed in Tahiti”, Skye replied.

“It’s a magical place. According to Coulson”, Samantha said.

“Yeah he said the same thing to me when I mentioned Tahiti”, Skye said. She then continued to tell her sister how she was kidnapped by Mike Peterson, a guy who’d been enhanced by a serum that was injected into him via a device on his arm; and about the confrontation at Union Station.

“Wow. That’s some day with SHIELD. It’s actually way more interesting than mine”, Samantha commented.

“Well I’ve told you how I got involved with SHIELD now it’s your turn”, Skye said.

“Didn’t Coulson tell you?” Samantha asked.

“No he didn’t. He just said that you were a SHIELD consultant living in London”, Skye replied.

“Oh is that what he’s calling me? I guess I could live with that”, Samantha said.

“So what is your story? How did you get involved with SHIELD?” Skye asked curious to know.

“I was working on an archaeological site and something happened. I can’t remember exactly what no matter how hard I try which is really annoying”, Samantha answered.

“I’m sure you’ll remember eventually”, Skye assured her.

“I hope so”, Samantha muttered.

Skye look out of the window “You know this is the first time I’ve been to London”, she commented.

“Really? You’ve never been here before”, Samantha said surprised.

“Nope”, Skye said popping the p.

“Well then as your sister it would be irresponsible of me to let you go back to America without seeing the most touristy places London has to offer”, Samantha said.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was early evening when Samantha and Skye made it back to the safe house, smiling and laughing. “I take it you two had a fun day”, Coulson said when they entered.

“I had fun”, Samantha said shrugging off her jacket “you Skye?”

“Definitely”, Skye agreed.

“Are you guys planning on staying tonight?” Samantha asked.

“We don’t have to be back for another day”, Coulson replied.

“Great! I’d say this calls for a pizza. A day out in London will not be complete without a takeaway for dinner”, Samantha said.

“Sounds good to me”, Skye agreed.

A few hours after having sharing a couple of pizzas, the four of them settled down for the night. “Hey Samantha?” Skye said when Samantha was heading out of the room she’d just shown her to.

“Yeah?” Samantha said pausing in the door way.

“Thanks for a great day”, Skye said.

“You’re welcome”, Samantha said.

“Can I ask you a question?” Skye asked.

“Sure”, Samantha replied.

“Can I give you a hug? I just really want to but I won’t if you’d feel awkward about it”, Skye said.

“Why would I feel awkward? You’re my sister”, Samantha said. Skye smiled, stepped forward and hugged her.

“I’m glad I found you”, she said.

“Me too Skye”, Samantha agreed hugging her twin sister back “me too”.


	10. Back to Peru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next two chapters are based on the AOS episode: 084

Samantha walked behind Coulson and Skye fiddling with her gloves. She was very uneasy. Why you ask? Because she was in the last place she ever wanted to be in: Peru. Apparently an 084 was discovered on an archaeological dig site. And as she knew the man who was running the dig, Professor Ravenscroft, Coulson told her she had to come along.

“We should warn the people who live around here if the 0-8-4 is dangerous”, Skye said to Coulson as they walked “They’re already dealing with anti-mining rebels and the Shining Path Guerillas. I could post something”.

“Remember the panic when that anti-matter meteor splashed down just off the coast of Miami, nearly devoured the City?” Coulson asked coming to a stop at the base of the temple steps.

“No”, Skye replied. Coulson tuned to her and Samantha.

“Precisely. Because we kept it quite and contained”, he said.

“So, what am I doing?” Skye asked wondering what exactly her role was on the mission.

“Well, if it gets out, I might need you to create some kind of diversion, put the public on the wrong scent”, Coulson told her.

“Sounds like that’s everything you’re against sis”, Samantha remarked.

“Definitely”, Skye muttered.

Coulson turned away from the twins and started up the steps just as a man and woman exited the temple. “I don’t believe it”, Samantha said staring up at the woman.

“You know her?” Skye asked following her gaze.

“I do. Its River Song”, Samantha replied. She couldn’t believe it, what were the odds that they’d both be in Peru at the same time? Professor Ravenscroft she could understand, he was big on the history of Peru, predominately the Incas. But River? _Maybe she could help me remember what happened_ she thought starting up the steps.

“River Song this is Samantha Tyler”, Coulson said when the brunette joined him, River and Professor Ravenscroft at the top of the steps.

“I know who she is Agent Coulson”, River said smiling warmly at Samantha “hi Sam, it’s been a while”.

“It certainly has”, Samantha agreed.

“Professor Ravenscroft was just telling me about the interesting object he’d, River and their team found”, Coulson told her.

“What did you find?” Samantha asked.

“I’m not sure how to describe it but I believe that it might be dangerous”, Professor Ravenscroft replied. He led them through the doorway, into the temple. Inside the main room, embedded in the far wall was the 084.

“Exactly as we found it”, Professor Ravenscroft said as he, River, Coulson and Samantha stood in front of it.

“Who else knows about this?” Coulson asked.

“Just the ministry. I believe they are the ones who contacted you”, River replied. Behind them Skye had entered along with FitzSimmons. The science duo set down a case and started to get equipment out.

 “Sir, I need you and your team to evacuate the site until we determine the risk associated with this object”, Coulson said and Professor Ravenscroft nodded. He turned to leave, eyeing Fitz’s mini drone warily as it flew past him.

“Coulson I need to talk to River for a moment, it’s important. Is that ok?” Samantha asked. Coulson nodded his consent and the pair left the temple.

“I assume you want to ask about happened 3 months ago”, River stated as they walked down the steps.

Samantha nodded “I do. I’ve been trying so hard to remember but I can’t. Not really. All I know is we were investigating the temple and the next thing I know, I’m waking up in a SHEILD facility”, she said “what happened River?”

“Come with me. Its best if we talk in private”, River said and took Samantha off to an unoccupied tent. “It’s like you said, we were investigating the temple. We discovered an area below the temple which seemed to predate it. And buried in one of the walls was this” River fished out her blue journal from her bag and showed Samantha the photo she had tucked inside.

“What is it?” Samantha asked looking at it. It didn’t seem the least bit familiar to her.

“I don’t know. Some kind of strange mini obelisk”, River replied “I tried to do some research on it after the accident but unfortunately I came up empty. I’ve been planning to head back to the temple to have another look around as soon as I get some down time”.

“Could I keep that?” Samantha asked nodding to the photo. She was hoping that if she had something from that dig that it might eventually jog her memory.

“Of course”, River said handing it over “you might as well have this too”, she added pulling out another book, a brown one this time. “It’s all I have on the dig which includes what we did in that secret area”, River explained.

“Don’t you want to keep that? For your research?” Samantha asked not taking the notebook.

“I’ve got a digital copy on my tablet”, River replied. Knowing that she had a copy of her work from the dig, Samantha took the notebook.

“So what happened after we found the obelisk?” she asked popping the photo into the notebook.

“Well… we did the usual. Take photos, measurements etc. Then we carefully took it out of the wall. I went to take pictures of it when all of a sudden the camera died. Unfortunately we didn’t think to bring a spare camera which meant we had to go back to camp to get one. I decided to go and while I was gone, you were going to take the measurements of the obelisk. I’d just about got back into the main temple when the entire place suddenly shook rather violently. I ran back into the room where I left you and I found you unconscious in the center of the room. You were surrounded by debris from the circular chamber that had been in the middle of the room. Your arms were bruised and there was this light glow underneath your skin. I managed to get you out of the temple and to the medical tent. SHEILD showed up a few hours after that and took you away”, River explained. 

Samantha slowly sat down in a chair letting it all sink in. “I realise it doesn’t tell you exactly what happened while you were in the room alone…” River began.

“No, it’s ok River. This is the first answers I’ve gotten about what happened all those months ago. And maybe the notes and the photos might help me jog my own memory”, Samantha said trying to look on the bright side. While it was true that River’s story didn’t tell her exactly what happened for this gold stuff to be inside her, it did at least give her something on the actual day itself. “Thank you for telling me River”, she said giving the woman a grateful smile.

River opened her mouth the say your welcome when all of a sudden there was a loud explosion, rocking the ground beneath them. “What the heck was that?!” Samantha exclaimed shooting to her feet.

“Rebels”, River replied “come on, we’ve got to get you back to Coulson”.  She and Samantha ran out of the tent and saw men in military uniform fighting out with the rebels.

“Sam over here!” Coulson shouted from where he and Camilla Reyes were taking cover in some sort of house. Keeping her head down, Samantha dashed over to the building, River sticking close to her covering the girl by firing her own gun at the rebels. “You ok?” Coulson asked Samantha as she dove behind the table.

“Fine thanks to River”, Samantha replied. Coulson nodded and turned his attention back to Camilla.

“Your men need to fall back now, or we’ll never make the runway”, he said “Now, you’re truck, let’s go”. The four of them left the building and made a run for Camila’s truck. On the way Coulson, River and Camila fired their guns at the rebels while Samantha stuck close to them making sure she didn’t get shot. _I really need to learn how to shoot a gun_ she thought flinching as a bullet whizzed past, inches away from her.

They reached the temple where Camilla’s truck was parked at the same time as Ward and the others were exiting the ancient building. The specialist pushed everyone back into the temple as they came under heavy fire from the rebels. From where she was crouched by the bushes, Samantha watched with worry as her sister and friends were cornered.

Ward pulled a small metal baton from his jacket. With a flick of his wrist it lengthens to look more like a walking cane. Coulson shoots a quick look to Camilla. “Tell your men to get down”, he ordered.

Camilla complies and her men immediately drop to the ground. Ward does a dive roll off the steps coming to rest on his knees on the ground in front of the temple. He drives the cane into the ground and presses a button on top. A small device pops out of the top, hovers in the air for a moment, then sends out a shockwave of green energy. It hits the rebels in the tress sending them flying back.

“My truck”, Camilla said and scrambled to her feet. Coulson, River and Samantha follow her the rest of the way to the vehicle. They pile into the truck along with a number of Camilla’s soldiers and they take off after the SHIELD SUV which contained the rest of the team.

After one heck of a car chase they all made it back to the Bus. “Cutting it pretty close, sir”, Ward said to Coulson as the ramp closed sealing them off from the rebels.

“Didn’t want to leave anyone behind”, Coulson said holstering his gun. Samantha went over to Skye and gave her a tight hug, thankful that she was ok.

Ward holsters his own gun and turns to Fitz “Now, what was the problem?” he asked.

“As I said before, this device has a high-frequency, fluctuating, sub-material compression –“

“Fitz, in English”, Ward cut in as he didn’t understand a word he was saying.

“The 0-8-4 is fuelled by Tesseract technology”, Fitz stated simply “Hydra. World War II. Captain America”. At those words Samantha turned to the bag housing the 084, eyeing it warily. “It’s full of lethal amounts of gamma radiation”, Fitz added.

“Gamma, you’re saying its nuclear?” Ward questioned.

“No. He’s saying it’s much, much worse”, Coulson said seriously. At that they all looked down at the bag before moving away from it.

Little later…

“Samantha Tyler reporting for a medical check-up”, Samantha said as she entered FitzSimmons’ lab.

“Sit down in the chair”, Jemma instructed and Samantha did so. The next 10 minutes was spent with Jemma examining the brunette, asking her questions. “Well, I can safely say that you’ve got a clean bill of health Sammy”, Jemma said as she looked over the results.

“Awesome”, Samantha said standing up “how are you guys doing with the whole fire-fight car chasing thing?” she asked.

“As well as can be”, Jemma replied.

“I for one did not expect to be seeing that much action so soon”, Fitz added.

“You better get used to it. I have a feeling that most days are going to be like this”, Samantha said. She turned to go and was surprised when one of Camilla’s soldiers was standing in the lab. “Can we help you?” she asked.

The man didn’t say a word, he just walked towards them with this look on his face which gave Samantha a bad feeling. She backed up, putting herself between FitzSimmons and the soldier. When he was close enough, Samantha put her hands on the counters either side of her and pushed herself up, kicking him as hard as she could in the chest. He stumbled back taken by surprise. She then grabbed a random tray and wacked the winded soldier. “Run!” Samantha shouted to FitzSimmons. They didn’t waste any time doing what she said. Samantha ran after them but she didn’t get very far when the soldier grabbed her, pulling her into a choke hold.

“Get back in here or I break her neck”, the soldier threatened. Fitz and Jemma exchanged looks and complied. They didn’t want their friend to get hurt or killed because of them.


	11. pieces solving a puzzle

~cargo hold~

“This is all my fault. I should’ve learned Kung Fu”, Fitz said glumly as they were all sat there against the ramp with their hands tied behind their backs. _I should’ve been able to hold off that guy better_ Samantha thought. If she could fight off a robot then she should’ve been able to fight off one guy. The brunette also wondered about the gold stuff that had saved her life from the plastic arm, destroyed both the Cassandra’s spider and the Adherents arm. Why didn’t it make an appearance?

Samantha was brought out of her thoughts when Jemma spoke up “Oh, yeah, but I shouldn’t have pushed you into the field in the first place. You weren’t ready”, she said.

“It was my job to make a proper threat assessment”, Ward spoke up. If he’d done so they wouldn’t be in this situation.

“Uh, we…we weren’t ready”, Fitz corrected Jemma.

“This wouldn’t have happened if Agent May wasn’t on the stick”, Skye pointed out. The woman in question was lying unconscious next to River. “She would’ve busted out some of her ninja know-how”.

“Agent May?” Fitz asked looking at Skye in surprise “No. No, no, she transferred from administration”.

“Well, I’ve seen her destroy a guy”, Skye retorted. She, Jemma and Fitz look over at Ward.

“You’ve heard of the Cavalry?” he asked.

“Yeah”, FitzSimmons said together.

“Everyone in the academy talks about st – “ Fitz continued on his own but broke off when he realised what Ward was implying.

“She’s the Calvary!” FitzSimmons said together.

“I told you, never to call me that”, May said groggily having just woken up when they said that.

Jemma makes a relieved noise that sounded rather like a giggle “I can’t believe it. Oh, we’re sure to get out of here now”, she said happily. She then leaned forward as far as she could to look at the agent “Um, how do we get out of here?”

May sat up with a grunt “We can’t go through the doors”, she said “They’re bolted, tied to the pressurization lines. You two geniuses have nothing?”

Fitz and Jemma shared a look. “Yeah, well, it’s hard to concentrate in these intense situations”, Fitz said defending him and Jemma.

“It’s ok Fitz, just take a moment to calm yourself”, Samantha said gently.

“Also you don’t need to come up with the whole solution”, Ward added. He leaned past Fitz and Jemma to look at Skye. “Just part of it. Right?”

Skye nods and smiles. “Yeah”, she agreed “Pieces solving a puzzle”. At that everyone started glancing around the cargo hold, each one thinking about how to take the plane back from Camilla and her soldiers.

“Well, that’s clearly the worst idea I’ve heard yet”, Jemma said when Skye finally came up with a possible suggestion.

“But, it could work”, Skye insisted.

“Reyes is gonna kill us the minute we land, regardless, and blame it on rebels”, River spoke up.

“She’s right”, Ward agreed “Skye’s idea means that we have a fighting chance, I’ll take it”. He looked a Fitz “What’s first?”

“We can’t get upstairs without going in the lab…”

“And the only way to release the lab doors is from upstairs”, Jemma continued.

“The first thing is we’re tied to the cargo door, so unless – “ Skye was abruptly cut off when a loud crack sounded. They all look at May where the sound originated from.

“What the hell was that?” Fitz asked after he flinched from the noise.

“Her wrist”, Ward replied simply.

May slipped out of her restraints and took down the soldier that was stationed on the catwalk above. She twists her wrist causing it to crack again. “What’s next?” she asked.

FitzSimmons had her release them all from their restraints. Then they all gathered around in a circle discussing the plan, making sure they all knew what to do. “Okay, we’re sure, right? Everyone’s sure? Skye asked.

“We’re all on board”, Jemma replied.

“Definitely”, River said and Samantha nodded in agreement.

“Yep. Let’s do this fast”, Fitz said eager to get it over with.

“No turning back, no freezing up”, Ward said making sure everyone knew that they couldn’t turn back now. They had to go through with the plan.

“Because if we do then…” Fitz began.

“All of us die”, Ward finished.

“We know”, Jemma said well aware of what was at stake.

“All right”, Ward said looking around at them all.

Suddenly the SUV’s engine revved behind them getting all of their attention. “You guys talk a lot”, May remarked from where she stood by the driver’s side of the SUV. She got into the car and closed the door. Ward pulled FitzSimmons out of the way of the sliding glass lab doors before May drove the SUV right into them. The glass shattered upon impact giving the group a way into the lab.

The groups enters the lab and starts putting their plan into effect. Jemma hops onto a table with a handheld drill and uses it to remove the cover of the air vent so that Fitz’s mini drone could get through. May and River head to another glass door and peer out making sure the coast is clear before they pull open the door and head for the cockpit. In the meantime Fitz is firing up his tablet for the mini drone while Ward, Samantha and Skye pull out various pieces of climbing gear.

Fitz sends his mini drone into the now open air vent before Ward secures black straps around the waists of Jemma, Fitz, Skye and Samantha. He then linked them all together with even more black straps. Ward didn’t need to be strapped to them as he was going to be dealing with the soldiers while they looked for the 084. The 5 of them head up the spiral stair case and stand near the door. “Simmons, forget what I said before. This, is the moment we’ll regret”, Fitz said to Jemma before he pressed a button on his tablet.

Inside the main room the mini drone, which was now hovering above the 084, sent out a small pulse activating the larger device. The 084 hummed loudly and then shot out a blue ray of light. The ray hits the chair in front of it, passes through the chair and punches a hole in The Bus. A soldier that was standing nearby gets sucked out.

On the catwalk, a little green light appeared near the door. “It worked”, Skye said relieved that it did.

Jemma gave Ward a smile “The drop in cabin pressure released the doors”, she said.

“I’ll take care of the soldiers, you guys get to the 0-8-4”, Ward instructed.

“And Coulson?” Fitz asked.

“Let’s hope he can handle himself”, Ward replied. He opened the door carefully, bracing himself against the wind. One of the remaining soldiers in the room spots them and starts to fire his gun at them. “Get back!” Ward shouted to the other four. He then engaged the soldier. While he fought the man, another soldier appears and points his gun at him.

Ward jumps over the little half wall and pins the gun against the couch, then kicks the solider in the face. The first soldier, now recovered from his tussle with Ward lunged at the Agent. However, Ward sees this just in time and uses the man’s momentum to force him to the couch, he uses one of the seatbelts to tie the man’s wrist. He knees the soldier in the throat then binds his other hand.

“Go now! Find the 0-8-4”, he ordered FitzSimmons and the twins. The four carefully made their way into the room, bracing themselves against the wind. Slowly they made their way along the wall to where the 084 had gotten itself embedded into it. Jemma and Samantha grabbed hold of it and with a big yank, they freed the 084 from the wall.

“We got it!” Jemma shouted to Fitz and Skye.

“Reel us back in!” Samantha ordered. Suddenly a pamphlet flies into her face. Samantha pulled it away and looked down at it. It was a safety pamphlet. Her brown eyes widened as an idea hit her. Samantha dropped the pamphlet and went for the clip that attached the strap between herself and Jemma.

“Sammy what are you doing? We need your help!” Jemma shouted.

“Trust me!” Samantha shouted back. She headed in the opposite direction towards where the inflatable life boats were kept. It wasn’t easy what with the wind threatening to knock her off her feet and whipping her ponytail across her face. But eventually she made it to where the life boats were held. She opened the compartment and pulled out the large yellow bag.

Samantha dropped to the floor and crawled with the bag to the half wall where her sister and FitzSimmons were now hiding behind. Bracing herself against the post, Samantha opened the bag and took out the inflatable life boat. She pulled the cord to inflate the boat.

Before it was fully inflated, she left the life boat go and it flew straight towards the hole. At Ward lost his grip on the seatbelt and was sucked towards the hole too. Luckily the life boat beat him to it, saving his life and effectively plugging the hole.

FitzSimmons and Skye pop their heads over the half wall seeing that it was over. Samantha got to her feet, went over to Ward and held her hand out to him. Ward took it and gets to his feet. “I read the safety pamphlet”, Samantha told him with a smile.

“I think you may be the first”, Ward remarked. He, Samantha, Skye, Coulson and FitzSimmons walked over to the small bar area, complete with a crescent shaped counter. “No other way in, huh?” Coulson commented picking up a broken glass and set it onto the counter “I was just starting to warm up to this place”.

Skye reaches over, grabs a coaster and puts it on the counter. She then moved the glass to sit on top of it and gave Coulson a small smile. “The 0-8-4 is cooling and stable”, Fitz reported “But we should call H.Q. and get it to the slingshot as soon as possible”.

Coulson turned and looks down at Camilla who was now tied to a pole. Slowly she looks up at him, defeated. “I told you they were good”, he said rather proud. Coulson gave Camilla a little grin while the others exchanged relieved looks with each other. 

~The Slingshot~

For surviving the mission in one piece everyone celebrated with a beer while sitting on the ramp of the Bus waiting for the rocket containing the 084 to be launched. “So who’s idea was it to blow was it to blow a hole in the plane?” Coulson asked them as he came to stand beside Skye.

“May said that the doors were tied to the pressurization so I thought – “ Skye started when Jemma cut in with

“So we thought it was the only way to release them”

“It was everyone’s idea, sir”, Ward spoke up.

“Yeah, quite genius, really”, Fitz added.

“Nice work”, Coulson said. Although he wasn’t too happy about having a large hole in his new plane, he was happy that they were starting to come together as a team. 

Suddenly a voice came over a loudspeaker “All clear for lift off”

“Oh, time for blast off”, Fitz said. He pinched his nose and spoke, his voice coming out rather funny “Launching in three, two…” a rocket took off towards the sky “The trajectory will take it beyond the Lagrange Point so that it doesn’t hit Herschel”

“And there haven’t been any coronal mass ejections, so it shouldn’t lose telemetry”, Jemma added.

“Guys, English”, Ward said having not understood a word they’d just said. They all watched the rocket climb higher and higher with smiles on their faces. River however didn’t watch the rocket go, she was looking at the members of the team with a bittersweet smile on her face. It was hard for her to stand there, pretend to be happy and enjoy the moment. Especially when she knew what was coming for the entire team. She knew there was going to be good times and bad times. Happiness, betrayal and heartbreak. _Sometimes I hate being me_ River thought.  


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based on the AOS episode: The Asset

The next mission Samantha went on with the team was to investigate the kidnapping on Dr Franklin Hall, a SHEILD asset. When they discovered that he’d been taken to Malta by Ian Quinn, the team launched a plan to rescue him. The only problem was they couldn’t get into the compound without someone on the inside. Luckily though Skye managed to wrangle two invitations on her phone. One for herself and one for Samantha.

“You ready for this Sammy?” Skye asked as the taxi pulled up outside Quinn’s estate.

“As I’ll ever be”, Samantha replied honestly. When the taxi stopped, the twins got out both looking semi-formal in their dresses and shoes. Skye was wearing a pink dress with heels while Samantha opted for a light blue one with matching flats. She wasn’t that big on heels and in the event she had to run, she’d rather be in sensible footwear. “Blimey this guy sure has a lot of money”, Samantha remarked quietly as they made their way through the house and out back where the party was being held. The house was big and the back garden, if you could even call it that was even bigger!

A waitress stops by twins with a tray of champagne and both the girls take a glass. “You see Quinn anywhere?” Skye asked Samantha. 

“Nope, not yet”, Samantha replied glancing around, her eyes darting from person to person. Trying to find the man in the sea of part guests was going to be a bit of a challenge. They continued walking, keeping an eye out for Quinn.

“Who are you?” male’s voice spoke suddenly behind them. Samantha and Skye quickly turned around to see a smartly dressed older man standing there. A younger, equally smartly dressed man hurried over.

“Oh, apologizes for his manners. He knows very little English”, he said apologetically.

“That’s quite all right”, Samantha said waving him off. She held out her hand “I’m Samantha and this is my sister Skye”, she added introducing her and her sister. 

“Hi”, Skye said politely. The older man shakes both of their hands.

“Qasim Zaghlul”, he said introducing himself.

“Big fan. You built half of Dubai, including the Arabian Blade”, Skye said. Qasim gave a small smile, pleased that she seemed to know who he was “I love that building, it’s super sci-fi. Where’s your wife…”

 _: Wife’s name is Nadrah :_ May said over Skye and Samantha’s earpieces.

“…Nadrah?”

 _: Twin sons_ _:_

“Is she staying at home with the boys?” Samantha asked.

~the Bus~

“How are they doing?” Fitz whispered to May and Jemma as he came into the planning room with a large bowl of popcorn.

“They’re good”, Jemma and May replied in unison.

~Party~

Skye reached out and touched Qasim on the arm “The pleasure is mine”, she said. The sisters turn and walk away. Almost immediately Skye puts her hand to her ear to talk to May, Jemma and Fitz on the Bus. “I could get used to this, people. It’s like Siri if it worked”, she said.

As Skye spoke to the others on her earpiece, Samantha had another look around to see if she could spot Quinn. _Bingo_ she thought spotting the man in question speaking to a group of people. “Guys I see Quinn”, she reported into her own earpiece.

She and Skye made their way over and joined the group at what appeared to be the tail-end of a conversation. When the others laughed at what Quinn said, so did they. “Ian Quinn. We’re your last minute party crashers. Skye and Samantha”, Skye said holding her hand out to Quinn. He shakes both of the twin’s hands.

“Great to meet you both”, Quinn said before addressing the others in the group “This is Skye and Samantha, members of the Rising Tide”. Samantha kept silent when he said that. She wasn’t a member of the organisation but Skye had told her the only way to get them both in was if she said that they were both members of the Rising Tide. “They’re a group of hackers. They’ve gotten some pretty big secrets out to the public”.

“I prefer “Hacktivist”. I’m glad you’ve heard of our site”, Skye said.

“I read it. We think very much alike, more freedom of information, less government infringing on everyone’s rights, I’m a fan”, Quinn said.

“Well, that explains the invite”, Samantha remarked remaining in character “This is a tough party to get into”.

“Not as hard to get into as the encrypted back channel as your sister here contacted us through to request the invite”, Quinn said nodding to Skye.

The brunette laughed “That’s sort of where I live”, she told him.

“You got to show me how you did that, I mean, if you and Sam… I’m sorry may I call you Sam?”

“Of course”, Samantha replied.

“If you and Sam sign on”

Skye and Samantha exchanged confused looks. They were a little thrown by what Quinn had just said. “Sign what, now?” Skye asked.

“I’ve been known to turn a few black hats into white hats”, Quinn informed them “Not just for vulnerability analysis, but for very creative thinking”.

“Are you offering us a job, Ian?” Samantha questioned.

“Well I didn’t invite you two here for your pretty faces”, Quinn replied “I didn’t know either of you had a pretty face”, he quickly added seeing that had slightly offended the sisters “Yes, I want to hire you both before someone else snatches you up”. He then walked away from the sisters.

 _: That seemed to go well :_ May commented.

“Yeah, it did”, Skye murmured and Samantha nodded in agreement. Although she was thinking that there was no way on Earth she’d ever agree to work for Quinn if he did end up making them an official job offer.

The guests at the party started to clap as Quinn stood behind a podium in a large tent. A big screen set up next to him. “Many of you shareholders have been with us for years, and I see a few new names here, but I want to thank you all for traveling so far to this beautiful country. And, well, for slumming it at Shaba Tal-Banar” the crowd laughs at his joke as Quinn takes a drink “This country where we are allowed to pursue progress and profit without the stranglehold of regulations that are now choking our world. The United States government, the E.U., the DRTC, S.H.I.E.L.D…” as he listed them off the logos for each appeared on the screen “…these are just a few of the institutions that are guilty of halting the development of new technology for anyone, except themselves. We dare defy them with a new idea. The steal in and sweep it out from under us. But not today. You’re all aware of what Quinn Worldwide has been able to do with basic minerals, let alone Uranium or Plutonium, despite these unjust restrictions that weigh the scales in the other guy’s favor….”

Samantha glanced around at everyone who seemed to be focused on Quinn and she nudged Skye, subtly gesturing that they should leave. Skye understood what she meant and they slowly began to move away from the crowd.

~hall~

Samantha and Skye walked down the hall, the open compact in the latter’s hand as they tried to find a signal that Fitz could use to bring down the laser grid to allow Coulson and Ward access to the compound. The sisters stopped at a set of double doors.

Samantha pushed on them but they didn’t open “It’s locked”, she said “but there’s no lock”.

 _:  Eh, check for a keypad :_ Fitz suggested. Samantha checked either side but there wasn’t one.

“Nothing”, she said.

“Wait, you can hack a keypad Fitz?” Skye asked sounding impressed.

 _: No, not over the phone :_ Fitz reluctantly replied.

 _: Is there a reception desk? :_ May asked.

Samantha and Skye glanced to their right and saw a small desk. “Okay, yeah”, Skye said as they walked towards it. “Well, now what do I do?” she asked as she and Samantha stopped next to it.

“What are you trying to do?” Quinn asked. The twins looked to their left were his voice was coming from and saw the man standing there not looking very impressed. _Uh oh_ Samantha thought.

Skye set her glass down on the desk which she’d still been holding while they checked out the house. Samantha had already gotten rid of her glass of champagne. “Just…” Skye glanced at the desk and saw several pens “Looking for a pen” she picked one up and showed it to Quinn “Here we go. Got to write down all those good ideas, you know what I mean? Of course you know what I mean. You probably have like 10 pens for all your ideas”.

Samantha nodded going along with it but it seems like Quinn wasn’t buying her feeble excuse. “What are you really doing?” he asked.

“Looks like we’re busted sis”, Samantha muttered “ok, see the thing is we wanted to get a glimpse behind your office doors, see how things really operate”, she lied.

Quinn took a few steps closer to the twins “I invite you here as a guest, you treat me like another corrupt institution, looking for trade secrets to leak online”, he said angrily. He took a step away from them and raised his phone to his mouth “Security”

“No, no, no, wait”, Skye said quickly and Quinn lowered the phone. “It’s just with all these la-di-da people, you have to be so guarded, so careful” she leant down and started to write something on sheet of paper “What’d you say, what secrets you reveal. And…I was hoping that the three of us could be honest with one another. If you know what I mean”

Skye holds up a sheet of paper to him.

_SHIELD IS LISTENING_

Samantha looked at the paper shocked that her sister would reveal that they were working with SHIELD. However, she masked her shock from Quinn who gained a rather serious expression on his face.

~Quinn’s Office~

Samantha and Skye settle down on the cream sofa, taking out their earpieces. They dropped them into Skye’s champagne. _I hope you know what you’re doing Skye_ Samantha thought watching the earpieces sink to the bottom of the glass. All she could do is play along and hope whatever Skye had planned, if she had a plan that is, worked. And that it was going to happen soon otherwise Ward and Coulson were going to be in serious trouble.

“Much better. Haven’t felt that “someone’s watching my every move” feeling since I failed my driver’s test”, Skye commented.

“You want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Quinn demanded. He picked up the glass and looked at the two earpieces “SHIELD got to you two?”

“They picked us up in L.A., we helped them in a crisis, and now they want to recruit us”, Skye lied. Well, she was only partially lying as it was just her they picked up in LA. However to keep up the pretence that they both were Rising Tide members, Skye made it seem like Samantha was also roped in with SHIELD at the same time.

“Of course they do”, Quinn muttered setting the glass on his desk.

“So, Sammy and I played along. Talk about inside info, we both have a bunk on their plane. The two of us been gathering intel, biding our time until we could become useful. Thought this qualified”, Skye explained.

“Why would they trust the pair of you with a covert operation like this?” Quinn questioned.

“Something about SHIELD not breaking international laws”, Samantha spoke up “They had no other options, whereas Skye and I like to keep ours open”.

“She’s not wrong there”, Skye agreed. They continued talking, the conversation going towards the reasons why SHIELD wanted to recruit the sisters. “You’re saying they wanted to rope us in because we pose a genuine threat?” Skye asked Quinn who was now standing next to one of the windows.

“Yes, and fit their profile”, Quinn replied.

“Profile?” Samantha queried.

“Sure. You’re both criminals”, Quinn said “You have a warrant somewhere”. Samantha refrained from correcting him. _Remember girl he has to believe the story. Just go with it._

“Most likely”, Samantha said with a shrug as if she didn’t care.

“Specialized skill set”, Quinn continued.

“We try to stay humble, but fail”, Skye quipped.

“No family”, Quinn said. Skye lowered her eyes at that. She didn’t really have any family, aside from Samantha of course. She never got adopted unlike her sister. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit a nerve”, Quinn said apologetically “but that is what these people do. SHIELD” he moved closer to the sofa “They prey on fear and loneliness and desperation, and then they offer a home to those who have no one else to turn to. I can offer you something better” Samantha put a hand on Skye’s shoulder as she looked away “Stay with us, there’s no secrets, no lies and no agenda. You’re free to do what you do without big brother watching over you”. Quinn walks around the sofa and sat down next to Skye. The twins had to budge up slightly to make room for him. “But first, you have to tell me exactly what agenda SHIELD sent you both in here with”, Quinn ordered.

“Well, they wanted us to do whatever it takes to get in here”, Skye said opening up her purse and taking out the compact. She opened it up as if to look at her reflection and saw a row of red dots on the left side of the mirror.

“Get in here and…?” Quinn asked.

The red dots disappear and a row of green dots appear on the right hand side of the mirror. _Bingo_ Samantha thought seeing this over her sister’s shoulder. Skye runs a finger under one of her eyes, keeping up the pretence of checking her reflection. 

“Bat our eyes”, Skye said snapping the compact closed and sets it onto the table “Get you talking”.

Quinn looked at the twins, he didn’t quite believe that they were the only angle SHIELD was playing “No, you two can’t be the only angle. SHIELD’s thorough enough to know about me and my exploits. It takes more than a pretty face to disarm me”, he said.

Suddenly a two men burst into the room. “Sir, we have a security breach”, he reported. Quinn shot to his feet at the news.

“Oh, the timing on that was perfect”, Skye remarked.

Quinn lets out a sigh and snatched up the compact from the table. He opened up the compact took one look at it before breaking it in two, throwing down the pieces. “Get them”, he ordered the men. They surged forward, grabbing the twins by their arms and yanked them off the sofa.

Samantha and Skye winced as they were shoved against a wall, guns pointed at them by the two men. “Don’t you get it? SHIELD’s against everything you both stand for”, Quinn said angrily to them “They’re Big Brother”.

“Maybe. But they’re the nice Big Brother who stands up for his helpless little brother when he’s getting beat up because he ate a piece of cake that he wasn’t…” Skye rambled making Quinn look rather lost “You know…you kidnapped a person!”

“I set him free! I saved him!” Quinn said loudly “And I could’ve saved you two”. The ground suddenly shook causing them all to lose their balance slightly. The slight tremor has made Quinn even more upset. “Tell me what they’re doing!” he demanded.

Skye and Samantha remained silent, refusing to talk. “Tell me what they’re doing”, he repeated, his voice softer than before “You have to talk. You have no other way out of this” he laughed “You’re both expendable to SHIELD. They sent you in here with nothing!”

Samantha and Skye briefly exchanged glances before they busted out the move that Ward had taught them on the Bus prior to going on the mission. It disarmed both of the men that held guns on them. “They taught us a few things”, Skye said pointing the gun she’d taken at Quinn.

“The kids got balls”, one of the men remarked eyeing the gun Samantha was pointing at him.

Both girl’s faces twisted with disgust at his remark. “Thanks but, yuck”, Skye said.

“But, do you have what it takes to pull the trigger?” Quinn asked.

Samantha and Skye exchanged looks “Nope”, they chorused. They dropped the guns and ran out the door, Skye kicking off her heels as she went. Skye jumped up onto a small table then onto the balcony, leaping off it into the pool below. Samantha quickly followed suit.

\--------------------

The now soaking wet Samantha and Skye run past the party guests who seem rather confused as to what was going on. “Which way?” Skye asked as they ran.

“I don’t know!” Samantha replied looking around “Uh…this way!” she grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her off in a different direction. They skidded to a stop when they saw two security guards appear from a flight of steps up ahead. Samantha and Skye turned and started the other way when another two guards appeared, blocking their escape. The two behind run up and take hold of the sister’s arms.

“No, no, no, no! Please, please!” Skye pleaded not wanting them to hurt her and her sister.

Ward suddenly appears behind the two guards that stood in front of them. He easily took them out causing the two holding the sisters captive to rush forward. Ward took them on too and beat them. _Man, I need to learn more moves_ Samantha thought as she watched. They were lucky that Ward had taught them the move that enabled them to disarm Quinn’s men but surrounded by 4 men, they were helpless. She didn’t want to have to rely on Ward to save them every time because he won’t always be there.

“Are you hurt?” Ward asked them.

“No, I’m fine”, Samantha assured him.

“A little shaken up but I’m ok too”, Skye added.

“Just follow my orders. I’ll get us out of here”, Ward instructed. He then took Skye’s hand and led her away, Samantha following.

\----------------

Getting to Quinn’s lab was quite an experience for the trio as everything seemed to be upside down for them, thanks to a larger version of the device FitzSimmons had discovered on the road a day ago. They reached the door to the lab, hearing Coulson and Hall talking but unfortunately they couldn’t make out what they were saying. As the ceiling was the floor and vice versa, the three of them had to crouch down to look in through the square glass window.

“They won’t understand the good I did here”, Dr Hall argued to Coulson who was pointing a gun at him. The Agent noticed Ward, Skye and Samantha peering in at them but kept his attention on Dr Hall.

“Killing innocent people?” Coulson retorted.

Dr Hall looked rather insulted at that “Saving millions”, he said “We have to live with the choices we make, but sometimes we have to die with them, too”.

Coulson lowered his gun. He understood Dr Hall’s reasoning for the choice he made “I understand. You made a hard call”, he said.

“Yes”, Dr Hall agreed.

“And now I have to make mine”, Coulson said before he fired the gun at the window at their feet, shattering the glass. He then jumped up and grabs a wire hanging above his head. Dr Hall wasn’t so lucky, he dropped through the open window and fell into Quinn’s device. The undulating black mass envelopes Hall in slow motion eventually covering his body and face. The moment this happens, everything in the room falls into its proper place as the gravity has returned to normal. The door to the lab opens and Ward, Skye and Samantha enter. They along with Coulson looked at the device, the undulating black mass looking no bigger having absorbed Hall and the rings slowly come to a stop. Skye, Ward and Samantha shoot a look to Coulson then look back at the device.

\------------

Samantha, now dry and wearing clean clothes, flopped down on her bed on the Bus. She picked up her phone from the small bedside table. The brunette was surprised to see so many missed calls and messages from her adoptive mother. Instead of looking at the messages, Samantha decided to ring Jackie. “Sammy! Thank goodness you called!” Jackie said sounding rather upset.

“Mum is everything ok? You sound upset”, Samantha said concerned.

“It’s Rose. She’s gone missing!” Jackie exclaimed.


	13. Reunited

Samantha stood in the cargo bay of the Bus watching the ramp descend. “You sure you don’t want to stay for a few days?” she asked Skye.

“I’m sure”, Skye replied.

“Well, if you change your mind you’re more than welcome”, Samantha said.

“Thanks. I’ll let you know”, Skye said.

Samantha picked up her bag and walked down the ramp after it came to stop. She’d almost reached the end when she heard FitzSimmons call her name. She turned to see the science duo hurrying towards her, carrying a bag. “This is for you”, Jemma said holding out the bag.

“What is it?” Samantha asked.

“Open it”, Jemma said. Samantha set down her bag and took the one from Jemma. She opened it to find a slightly futuristic looking black gun.

“You gave me a gun”, Samantha stated taking it out.

“It’s not just any gun. It’s an Incapacitating Cartridge Emitting Railgun”, Fitz said sounding very proud at that.

“ICER for short. Its upgraded version of the night-night gun”, Jemma added.

“It’s also a better sounding name”, Skye put in.

“I’ll agree with you on that one. So why have you given me an ICER?” Samantha questioned. Thanks to Ward’s training she knew how to use a gun but she still wondered why FitzSimmons was giving her one. 

“To protect yourself”, Fitz said.

“And Coulson is ok with you guys giving me one?” Samantha asked.

“Of course he is”, Jemma said quickly.

“Right. Of course”, Samantha said not believing her at all.

“You’ve got 6 rounds of dendrotoxin in the gun and you have two extra magazines”, Fitz explained.

“Hopefully I won’t need to use it”, Samantha said. 

“Hopefully you won’t but just in case”, Jemma said.

“Well thank you. Both of you for this. I’ll make sure that I don’t lose it”, Samantha said. She put the ICER back in the bag she was given and then stowed it away in her own larger bag. She said her goodbyes to FitzSimmons and her twin and then left the plane. She didn’t particularly want to leave, but she had to. Jackie needed her now more than her considering it had been a year since either of them had seen or heard from Rose.

Not like Samantha didn’t try to get in touch with Rose. She rung her number whenever she got spare time and left dozens of messages. But she got nothing back. Samantha also took time off between missions to go home to be with her adoptive mother. The team were very supportive, Fitz and Skye created a programme that would alert them if Rose popped up anywhere in the world. Samantha found herself wanting to tell them about the Doctor and how Rose is travelling with him in his time travelling machine. But she couldn’t, that would raise all sorts of questions.

There were two points in the year where it was extremely difficult to cope. The first being Rose’s birthday. That was spent comforting Jackie and trying to get a hold of Rose to get her to come home. The second point in the year was Christmas. Again that was spent comforting Jackie and calling Rose. Samantha did bring Skye back with her when she came home os she could introduce her to Jackie. The woman seemed very surprised that Samantha actually had a twin but she was also pleased as well. However, it did set Jackie off again which made Samantha think that it wasn’t a good idea having Skye join them for Christmas.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mum! I’m home!” Samantha called as she entered her flat. She barley had a chance to put her bag down when Jackie appeared, giving her a hug. “Have you heard anything?” she asked knowing that the answer will be ‘no’.

“Nothing. I just don’t know what to do Sammy”, Jackie said. Samantha’s heart ached at how lost her adoptive mother sounded. 

“All we can do is hope she’ll turn up soon”, Samantha said.

“I suppose” Jackie murmured “I was going to put up some more fliers today”.

“Why don’t I do that for you?” Samantha offered “that way you can be home for when she shows up”.

“If she shows up. What if she’s…?”

“Mum don’t you dare finish sentence”, Samantha said firmly “Rose is fine and she _will_ come home sooner or later. You’ll see”. Samantha gave her mother one more hug before dumping her stuff in her room. She then grabbed a few flyers before heading out, making a promise to Jackie that she won’t be out more than an hour.  She’d not long left the Powell Estate when the TARDIS appeared.

“How long have I been gone?” Rose asked the Doctor.

“About 12 hours”, the Doctor replied.

“Ooh! Right, I won't be long. I just want to see my mum and Sam”, Rose said.

“What are you going to tell your mother?” the Doctor asked. He knew she couldn’t very well tell Jackie the truth unlike Samantha.

“I don't know! I've been to the year 5 billion… met Charles Dickens and only been gone, what, 12 hours? No, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See you later!” Rose started to walk off but turned back “Oh, don't you disappear”.

The Doctor gives her look to say ‘as if I would’ and she runs off in the direction of the flats. She bounds up the stairs with a smile on her face. “I'm back mum! Sammy” Rose called as she entered the flat “I was with Shareen. She was all upset again. Are you two in?” Jackie walked out of the kitchen carrying a mug of tea “So, what's been going on? How've you been?” Jackie stares at her youngest as if she couldn’t believe she was standing there “What? What's that face for? It's not the first time I've stayed out all night” Jackie dropped the mug of tea and it smashes on the floor.

“It's you”, she breathed.

“Of course it's me”, Rose said confused as to why her mother was staring at her like that. She’d only been gone 12 hours.

“Oh, my God. It's you. Oh my God!” Jackie exclaimed throwing her arms around Rose. _Why was she acting like this?_ the young blonde thought. Then she saw the missing posters scattered over the table.

Suddenly the Doctor comes bursting through the door startling both Rose and Jackie “It's not 12 hours, it's er 12 months. You've been gone a whole year” he laughed apologetically while Rose and Jackie look at him stunned “Sorry”.

\----------------------

Samantha entered the courtyard of the Powell Estate roughly an hour later and was stopped in her tracks when she saw a blue police box sitting there. Hoping it wasn’t her imagination, she ran up to it. “Please let this be real”, she whispered reaching out. She breathed a sigh of relief when her hand touched the box, feeling wood underneath. It was real! Which meant… “They’re back” Samantha let a laugh “they’re back!” she shouted happily.

Samantha turned and ran for the building were her flat was. She bounded up the stairs two at a time. “Rosie!” she called bursting through the front door, not even caring that it the wall as she flung it open.

Rose stepped out of the kitchen “hey Sammy”, she greeted.

Samantha rushed up to her and gave her the biggest hug she possibly could. “I’ve missed you so much!” she exclaimed. Samantha pulled back “why didn’t you let us know you were ok? We were worried sick”.

“I know. I’m really sorry”, Rose said apologetically. She never meant to worry her mother and sister. Samantha pulled her back into another hug, so relieved that she was ok. But she was definitely going to have to have a word with the Doctor.

Rose took her up to the roof, where apparently the Time Lord had escaped to, after the family of three had a group crying/hugging session. “Where exactly where you?” Samantha asked as she and Rose climbed the stairs that led to the roof.

“We had a trip to the past. 1869, Cardiff where we met Charles Dickens”, Rose replied.

“I bet that was fun”, Samantha commented.

“Would’ve been better if it wasn’t for the Gelth”, Rose told her.

“The Gelth?” Samantha asked with a frown.

“They’re gas like aliens…” Samantha listened as Rose told her about the adventure she’s missed out on.

“Sounds like you’re lucky to be alive”, Samantha said when Rose finished.

“Yeah, I was”, Rose agreed.

“So did you stay there for a year or something?” Samantha questioned.

“No”, Rose replied “The Doctor said he got me back 12 hours after we left for the year 5 billion but he overshot a little”.

“A little? There’s a big difference between 12 hours and 12 months”, Samantha said.

“I know and I’m sorry, I really am”, Rose said feeling really bad about the Doctor’s slight overshoot. 

“It’s not your fault. It’s the Doctor’s” Samantha pulled open the door to the roof and stepped out onto it. It wasn’t hard to find the Doctor, he was just standing there leaning against a wall. “When I said you guys could keep travelling without me, I didn’t expect you to drop my sister off a year later”, she said to the Doctor folding her arms.

“I’m sorry Sam. I was aiming for 12 hours, not 12 months”, the Doctor said.

“I know. Rose told me”, Samantha said.

“You aren’t going to slap me are you?” the Doctor asked hoping she wasn’t. He didn’t think he could take another slap like the one he’d received from Jackie.

Samantha frowned “why on earth would I do that?” she asked.

“Well… your mother did”, the Doctor replied.

“I’m not going to slap you”, Samantha assured him. The Doctor relaxed slightly. But then he cried out when she punched him in the arm, hard.

“Ow!” the Time Lord cried.

“You have no idea how hard this year has been for us!” Samantha shouted “Our mother barely left the flat because she was worried that Rose would turn up or she would call. I’ve been just as worried and I _knew_ she was with you. And of course that made it all worse because I couldn’t tell anyone about you or the TARDIS. I came so close to telling mom the truth but I didn’t. I just kept my mouth shut and watched our mother fall apart. And it’s all your fault. None of this would’ve happen if you hadn’t screwed up big time”.

Rose put an arm around her sister when she started to tear up. The Doctor had the decency to look guilty at how upset Sam was about the whole thing. He was about to say something when all of a sudden a horn blared above them. The trio looked up to see a spaceship zooming overhead, leaving a trail of smoke.

Samantha, Rose and the Doctor watch as it collided with Big Ben before making a crash landing in the Thames. “Well… that was unexpected”, Samantha remarked as she lowered her phone having just managed to get it out and record some of what just happened.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the three of them eventually arrive at the scene, the roads had been blocked off by the army and a crowd of people had started to gather. “It's blocked off”, Rose stated.

“You don’t say”, Samantha said sarcastically standing on her tiptoes in an attempt to see something but unfortunately she couldn’t.

“We're miles from the centre. The city must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down”, Rose added.

“I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!” the Doctor said happily.

“Did you know this was going to happen?” Rose asked.

“Nope!” the Doctor replied with a grin on his face.

“Do you recognise the ship?” Samantha asked.

“Nope!” the Doctor answered.

“Well…do you know why it crashed?” Rose questioned.

“Nope!” the Doctor repeated.

“Oh, I'm so glad I've got you”, Rose said sounding just as sarcastic as Samantha had been.

“I bet you are. This is what I travel for. To see history happening right in front of us”, the Doctor said not realising that Rose was being sarcastic.

“Well, let's go and see it”, Rose suggested “Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS”.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea”, Samantha said looking up from her phone where she was in the process of sending Coulson and the others the video of the ship knowing it was something they’d want to investigate “there’s already 1 spaceship in the middle of London, don’t think it would be wise to add another”. 

“She’s right”, the Doctor agreed.

“Yeah, but yours looks like a big blue box” Rose pointed out “No one's going to notice”.

“You'd be surprised” Samantha’s phone buzzed and she glanced down at it “Emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching” _like SHIELD_ Samantha thought reading the message. Coulson and the others were on their way to London “Trust me. The TARDIS stays where it is”

Rose was rather disgruntled about that, she wanted to go investigate the spaceship. “So history's happening and we're stuck here”, she said bitterly.

“Yes, we are”, the Doctor agreed.

“We could always do what everybody else does”, Rose spoked up. The Doctor looked at her questioningly “We could watch it on TV”. The Time Lord looked as though this idea was completely new to him.


	14. It's a trap!

 Samantha stood in the doorway of the living room watching all the people crammed inside. Jackie had invited several people, pretty much all her friends over to celebrate Rose’s homecoming and the spaceship that crashed into the Thames. She didn’t see why people were all excited. Aliens had visited their planet before and they usually weren’t friendly as evidenced by both the Chitauri and most recently the Dark Elf invasion. Which she and the rest of Coulson’s team were called in for clean-up in the aftermath of the Battle of Greenwich. It was safe to say that it wasn’t particularly fun picking through the rubble looking for any bits that didn’t belong on Earth. Though Coulson did make a joke about the Asgardian’s sending ‘the god of cleaning after yourself’ and them probably having a ‘magic broom’. That was fairly funny.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket when it buzzed and smiled when she read the message. She was being called in! Samantha went to her room pulled on a black jacket and pocketed her ID. She was about to leave the room when the bag containing the ICER caught her eye. She went over to it and opened the bag. She attached the holster to her belt and slipped the gun into the holster. Samantha wasn’t sure if she’d need it but she was going to take it just in case. She then slipped out of the flat with no trouble at all.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Agent Coulson”, Samantha greeted when she stepped into the Safe House to find everyone from the team there.

“Now that we’re all here, we can begin”, Coulson said and they all gathered around a large screen and he played the video Samantha had recorded. “Earlier today this spaceship collided with Big Ben before crashing into the Thames. Thanks to Sam we were made aware of this”, he added.

“Just doing my job Coulson”, Samantha said “What did you guys find out about the ship?” she asked.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t actually get a look at the spaceship as its still in the Thames…” Jemma began.

“But we did find out something interesting from the video you sent”, Fitz finished. He replayed the video, pausing it at a particular point. “The angle of the descent is perfect for the ship to crash into Big Ben and then into the Thames”, he explained.

“Perhaps a little too perfect”, Jemma added.

“You mean whatever or whoever was flying that thing deliberately crashed into Big Ben”, May stated.

“Precisely”, Jemma said.

“That doesn’t make sense”, Skye said “why do all that if you want to invade? Seems pretty stupid to me, all they’ve done is put the entire world on red alert”.

“That’s a good point. One hopefully will be answered at the meeting”, Coulson said.

“What meeting?” Samantha asked.

“There’s a meeting of alien experts from around the globe, trying to figure out what is going on”

“And SHIELD wants a representative there”, Ward guessed.

“They want two people there. I’m going to be one and Sam will be the other”, Coulson said.

Samantha was surprised by his decision to take her along as the second SHIELD representative. But didn’t question it. She knew he had his reasons for choosing her. She’ll just have to remember to tell Rose all about it when she got back as it was highly doubtful that she would be there. Coulson and Samantha got into the SUV and drove off towards Downing Street as the Doctor and Rose were being ushered into a vehicle.

“This is a bit posh” Rose remarked looking around the interior “If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago”

“We're not being arrested, we're being escorted”, the Doctor corrected her.

“Where to?” Rose asked.

“Where'd you think? Downing Street”, the Doctor said sounding rather excited.

“You're kidding”, Rose said staring at him in disbelief.

“I'm not”, the Doctor said.

“10 Downing Street?” Rose asked.

“That's the one!” The Doctor replied.

Rose laughed with glee “Oh, my God. I'm going to 10 Downing Street!” she said excitedly. The Doctor nods grinning “How come?” Rose asked.

“I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, uh, noticed”, the Doctor admitted.

“Now they need you?” Rose questioned.

“Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?” the Doctor grins expectantly at her.

“Patrick Moore?” Rose answered partially joking.

“Apart from him!”

“Ah, don't you just love it…” Rose said with a grin.

“I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?” the Doctor asked.

“How should I know? I missed a year”, Rose reminded him.

When the car pulls up outside 10 Downing Street, several paparazzi and police are gathered outside. The Doctor gets out of the car waving at all the cameras. Rose is less excited opting to give them a nervous smile.

The Time Lord and the human were shown into a large room where several people in suits and uniforms were wandering about chatting amongst themselves. But that wasn’t what caught Rose’s attention. What caught her attention was that her sister was there along with a fairly familiar man. “Sammy? Mr Coulson? What are you guys doing here?” Rose asked as she and the Doctor went over to them.

“We were called in to represent SHIELD”, Coulson replied.

“SHIELD?” Rose asked with a confused look.

“It’s a government agency. I’ve been working with Agent Coulson’s team for the past year as a consultant”, Samantha explained. Both the Doctor and Rose were surprised at that.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Rose asked.

“That was my fault. I’d told Sam that she had to keep her involvement with SHIELD to herself, for the safety of you and Jackie”, Coulson told Rose.

“Until about an hour ago when he gave me permission to tell you Rosie”, Samantha added. Coulson nodded to say that she was telling the truth “I had planned to tell you later, after the meeting” the Doctor cleared his throat “oh, Coulson this is the Doctor, the foremost expert on aliens”, Samantha added introducing the Time Lord.

The two shook hands “the Doctor? That’s a strange name”, Coulson remarked.

“I’m used to it”, the Doctor said.

Before anyone could say anything else, Indra Ganesh made an announcement “Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times”.

When the four go up to him, he hands the Doctor an ID card “Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance”, he said nodding to Rose.

“I don't go anywhere without her”, the Doctor said putting the ID card around his neck.

“You're the code nine, not her. I'm sorry, Doctor…it is the Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay outside”, Indra said apologetically.

“She's staying with me”, the Doctor said firmly.

“Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact”, Indra said in a tone which told them all that he wouldn't change his mind.

“It's all right. You go”, Rose said. She was a little put out that she wasn’t allowed to go into the meeting but she understood, she wasn’t an alien expert.

“Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?” an older woman asked causing Indra to look exasperated.

“Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?” he asked the woman.

“Are you sure?” the Doctor said to Rose.

“Yeah, they’re the experts, you should hear what they have to say”, Rose replied.

“I suppose so”, the Doctor reluctantly agreed “Don't get in any trouble”, he warned.

“Don’t worry Doctor, I’ll stay with her”, Samantha told him “if that's ok with you, Coulson?” she asked turning to the man.

“Of course”, Coulson said understanding that she wanted to keep her sister company. Rose and Samantha stood back watching the Doctor and Coulson go into the room with the other experts.

“So you work for SHIELD as a consultant”, Rose said not long after the Doctor and Coulson left.

“I do”, Samantha replied.

“How did that happen?” Rose asked curious how her older sister ended up working for a government organisation.

Samantha opened her mouth to say something when the woman Indra got cross at came up to them “Excuse me”, she said “Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North”, Harriet showed them her ID card “might I have a word with you in private?”

The two sisters exchanged looks before Rose said “sure”.

Samantha, Rose and Harriet left the room and was a little ways down a corridor when Harriet spoke. “This friend of yours…he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?”

“Why do you want to know?” Rose asked. Instead of answering, Harriet burst into tears. The girls exchanged another look before Samantha took the woman in her arms, rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her.

~Briefing room~

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please”, General Asquith said catching everyone’s attention “As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant…”

“Of course, the really interesting bit happened three days ago, see”, the Doctor said interrupting him. He stood up and walked toward the front desk talking “filed away under ‘Any Other Business’. The North Sea. A satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation, at one hundred fathoms, like there's something down there” he turned around to face everyone in the room “You were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion. From what?”

~Cabinet Room~

After Harriet had calmed down enough, she took both Tylers to the Cabinet Room to show them the skin suit of a man explaining everything that she’d seen hours earlier “They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!” she exclaimed.

She bursts into tears again and this time Rose comforts her “all right Harriet. We believe you”, the teenager assures her.

“Must’ve been some serious technology they used to do this”, Samantha remarked.

“And if we could find it, we could use it”, Rose added.

“Exactly”, Samantha agreed. The two of them started searching the room while Harriet watched. Rose opened a cupboard and was startled when a man’s body fell out. Samantha hurried over and her eyes widened when she recognised him as the Prime Minister.

“Oh, my God!” Harriet cried “Is that that…?”

“I’m afraid so”, Samantha said solemnly.

Suddenly Indra entered the room and the moment he saw Harriet, he grew annoyed “Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander….” he trailed off when he saw the body “Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!” he exclaimed.

~Briefing room~

“If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get?” The Doctor paused as it hit him “Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap”

~Cabinet Room~

“Ohhhhh!” a female voice called. Rose, Samantha, Harriet and Indra turned to see a plump woman, Margaret Blaine, walk in “Has someone been naughty?” she asked.

The group look at each other as the woman shuts the door. “That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!” Indra exclaimed.

“And who told you that, hmm?” Margaret asked walking up to him “Me”. They all watch as she strokes the hair on her forehead. Samantha got a very bad feeling about the woman and slowly reached for her ICER.

~Briefing room~

“This is all about us” all the experts including Coulson looked intrigued “Alien experts, the only people with knowledge how to fight them gathered together in one room” There was a rather loud fart from the man, Joseph Green, sitting down at the front desk. “Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?” the Doctor said clearly not impressed.

“Would you rather silent but deadly?” Joseph retorted smirking. Everyone in the room stared as the general removed his cap and starts to unzip his forehead, Joseph laughing manically as the general did so.

~Cabinet Room~

As Margret or more precisely the alien inside started pulling of its skin suit, Samantha raised her gun and fired.

~Briefing Room~

General Asquith is now entirely out of his skin suit revealing a large green alien with black eyes and long talons on each hand.

~Cabinet Room~

Samantha fired once more at Margret who was half way out of her skin suit. “Ooooh that makes me feel funny” it rasped.

~Briefing Room~

General Asquith straightens as he is now out of his skin suit. “We are the Slitheen”, he rasped.

~Cabinet Room~

Margret, who was now out of her skin suit as the two round of dendrotoxin that Samantha shot at her seeming to have little to no affect, roars in delight. She grabs Samantha by the throat, pinning her up against the wall.

~Briefing Room~

Joseph stood up and pulled something out of his pocket. “Thank you all for wearing your ID cards. They'll help to identify the bodies”, he said pressing a button. The ID cards emit electric shocks to everyone with the exception of Coulson who doesn’t have an ID card.

~Cabinet Room~

Samantha gasps for air as Margret strangles her. Indra, Rose and Harriet forced to watch on, unable to help her.

~Briefing Room~

The Doctor shouts in pain as his whole body shakes. Coulson could only watch, unable to do anything as he unfortunately didn’t have an ICER on him. He couldn’t call for back up. Well he could but it would take them too long to get there.

~Cabinet Room~

Samantha’s eyes fluttered closed as she slowly lost the battle to stay conscious. Suddenly she was released as Margret was flung away from her. Rose was momentarily shocked by what happened before she rushed over to her sister’s side. “Why you little…” Margret began before she cut off as she was then shocked by the collar around her neck. Between Rose and Indra, they managed to haul Samantha to her feet and hurried out the room with the young woman. Harriet followed suit, ensuring that she grabbed Samantha’s gun, which the brunette dropped when Margret grabbed her, on the way out of the room.

\-------------------

“Rose”, Samantha mumbled still rather out of it “stop”. Rose did as she said and she and Indra leant the brunette against the wall “thanks, I just need a minute”, she said.

“What was that gold stuff that came out of you?” Rose suddenly asked.

“What?” Samantha asked.

“When that alien was strangling you, this gold stuff sort of exploded from you, throwing the alien back”

“I don’t know”, Samantha replied. This was the second time that stuff had appeared, saving her life. Though she wondered why it didn’t make an appearance when the solider grabbed her on the Bus or when she and Skye were grabbed by Quinn’s security guards. Didn’t it work on humans? Or did it just appear randomly? Samantha didn’t really have time to dwell on it, she had more important things to focus on. Namely the Slitheen woman who was hell bent on killing them all.

Then she noticed Harriet holding her gun rather awkwardly in her hands “can I have that back?” she asked and the woman complied.

“That gun of yours is pretty useless”, Indra remarked as Samantha holstered it “didn’t seem to have any effect on that thing”.

“My gun isn’t useless. It was supposed to knock that thing out”, Samantha said “My guess is the concentration of dendrotoxin wasn’t high enough”.

“Or you didn’t shoot it enough times”, Rose added.

“That too”, Samantha agreed. 

“Maybe you should’ve got a proper gun, not a tranquilizer one”, Indra grumbled.

“Oh I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that we were going to be trapped in Downing Street with an alien that wants to kill us”, Samantha said sarcastically “if we survive, next time I’ll remember to bring a more lethal weapon”. She pushed herself away from the wall “come on, we’ve got to find the Doctor and Coulson”.

“No, wait”, Harriet spoke up as Samantha started walking away “They're still in there! The emergency protocols! We need them!”

Without even waiting for an answer from either sister, Harriet runs back in the direction of the Cabinet Room, Indra following her. Rose and Samantha exchanged a look before going after them. All four of them came to an abrupt stop when Margret came towards them. “Run!” Samantha shouted whipping out her gun and fired two more shots at the alien. She didn’t even wait to see if it did anything as she ran after Rose, Harriet and Indra. The four of them ran across a hallway, Rose shutting the door behind them. They kept running, getting rather lost in the hallways as Indra shouted out random directions. They eventually found themselves in a room where all the doors were locked save the one they entered through.

“Nice on Indra”, Samantha panted.

“Sorry”, he said apologetically “I…”

“Never mind talking. We need to hide”, Rose said interrupting. She and Samantha slipped behind the curtains. While Harriet hid behind the window screens and Indra dropped down by a cabinet.

The door to the room opens and Margret enters “Oh, such fun!” she said playfully “Little human children…where are you?” Samantha took Rose’s hand to try and calm her as she could see that she was getting scared “Sweet little humeykins…come to me…let me kiss you better….kiss you with my big, green lips”.

Joseph and Asquith join Margret in the room “My brothers”, Margret greeted.

“Happy hunting?” Joseph asked her.

“It would be if it wasn’t for whatever that child shot me with. It makes me feel funny” Margret shook her head trying to get rid of the grogginess she was feeling “no matter. I’ll find her soon and tear her apart”. 

“Shouldn’t be too hard to find the child. The more you prolong it, the more they stink”, Asquith pointed out.

“I can smell an old girl…stale bird…brittle bones”, Joseph said “And there’s also a young man…eager to please”.

“And two ripe youngsters. All hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before they snap”, Margret says going over to the curtain. She sweeps them aside revealing the sisters. Rose screams causing Harriet and Indra to jump out of their hiding spots.

“No! Take me first! Take me!” Harriet shouted.

“And me!” Indra added.

The door bursts open and the Doctor and Coulson step in, both brandishing a fire extinguisher each. “Out, with me!” he shouts as he sprays Joseph and Asquith in the faces. Coulson does the same. Rose and Samantha pulled the curtains down over Margret’s head before running over to stand behind the Doctor and Coulson.

“Who the hell are you two?” The Time Lord asked Harriet and Indra who joined them.

“Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North”, Harriet answered.

“Indra Ganesh, junior secretary. We met downstairs”, Indra replied.

“Nice to meet you”, the Doctor said.

“Likewise”, Harriet replied.

The Doctor and Coulson use up the CO2 in the fire extinguisher and they all run out of the room “We need to head to the Cabinet Room”, the Doctor told them.

“The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens!” Harriet piped up.

“Harriet Jones, I like you”, The Doctor remarked.

“And I like you too”, Harriet said, pleased.

During their run, the Doctor bypassed a locked door with his sonic and they all run into the Cabinet room, Rose making sure the shut and lock the door behind them. The Doctor ran over to the doorway and snatched up a decanter of alcohol from the table. He holds his sonic against it as the aliens approached “One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof! We all go up. So back off”, the Doctor said warningly. The alien trio did so “Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?” he asked.

“They're aliens”, Harriet stated.

“Yes. I got that, thanks”, the Doctor said slightly sarcastic.

“Who are you, if not human?” Joseph asked.

“Who's not human?” Harriet asked confused.

“He's not human”, Rose told Harriet.

“He's not human?” Harriet repeated. Coulson knew there was much more to the Doctor than meets the eye as he was the only one who’d survived being electrocuted by the ID card.

“Can I have a bit of hush?” the Doctor asked wanting to get back to his questioning.

“Sorry”, Harriet said apologetically.

“So, what's the plan?” the Doctor questioned.

“But he's got a Northern accent”, Harriet protested. Samantha rolled her eyes, getting a little annoyed at her interruptions.

“Lots of planets have a north”, she and Rose said in unison causing them both to look at each other and grin.

“I said hush. Come on!” the Doctor held the decanter of alcohol threateningly out in front of him “You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?”

“Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?” Asquith asked.

“Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?” the Doctor queried.

“The Slitheen race?” General Asquith asked sounding rather offended.

“Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname”, Joseph said correcting the Doctor “Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service”.

“That’s a bit of a mouthful”, Samantha commented.

“So, you're family”, Coulson spoke up.

“It’s family business”, Joseph said.

“Then you're out to make a profit. ‘How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock’?” the Doctor asked.

“Ahhh…excuse me?” Asquith said gesturing to the decanter “Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability…?”

“Is that what I said?” the Doctor asked innocently.

“You're making it up”, Asquith accused.

“Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it” the Doctor held out the decanter not noticing that she had her arms full with the red case she was clutching.

“You pass it to the left first”, she informed him.

“Sorry” he hands it to Samantha who immediately gives it to Indra as she didn’t want any nor did she want Rose having some.

“Now we can end this hunt…with a slaughter” Asquith flexed his claws menacingly. Samantha placed a hand on her gun, ready to take it out at a moment’s notice. Even though it doesn’t kill, it did seem to do something to the Slitheen.

“Don't you think we should run?” Rose asked the Doctor who seemed remarkably calm.

“Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mr Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain” the Doctor lifted a panel and pressed a button “End of lesson”. Metal shutters slammed down in front of the doors and around the windows “Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in”.

“And how do we get out?” Rose asked.

There was a pause. “Ah”, the Doctor said releasing that while the Slitheen couldn’t get in the room, they couldn’t get out. Not with the metal shutters covering the doors and windows.


	15. BOOM!

“Right, what have we got? Any terminals, anything?” the Doctor asked as they gathered around the table.

Indra shook his head “No. This place is antique”, he replied.

“What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?” Rose asked.

“He's too slim”, Coulson answered. Considering the two Slitheen that were present during the meeting earlier, their skin suits were of people on the larger side so naturally anyone that was slim wouldn’t be any good.

“They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans”, the Doctor added.

“But the Slitheen are at least 8 feet tall!” Samantha said in surprise “How do they fit inside?”

“That's the device around their necks. Compression field” the Doctor explained “Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange”.

“Wish I had a compression field”, Rose commented “I could fit a size smaller”.

“Excuse me, people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes”, Harriet all but scolded her.

“Sorry. You get used to this stuff when you're friends with him” Rose nodded to the Doctor who’d by this point moved over to the walls to scan with his sonic.

“Well, that's a strange friendship” Harriet remarked.

Coulson took Samantha aside “I suppose now we’ve got some time, you could tell me more about the Doctor”, he said.

Samantha glanced over at the Time Lord “what do you want to know?” she asked.

“He’s an alien. What kind?”  Coulson questioned.

“Time Lord. The last of the Time Lords”, Samantha replied.

“And how did you meet him?” Coulson asked.

“He saved my life”, Samantha replied “And before you ask, you can trust him. He’s not like the Chitauri or the Dark Elves. Believe it or not he’s actually saved Earth quite a few times”, she quickly added wanting him to know that the Doctor was someone Coulson could trust. Coulson was slightly assured by her words. It was nice to know that there was another relatively friendly alien whom could possibly become a valuable ally.

The pair’s attention was caught by a phone beeping “Oh, that's me”, Rose said pulling her phone out.

“But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?” Harriet asked.

“He zapped it! Super phone”, Rose said.

“Then we can phone for help! You must have contacts”, Harriet said hopeful.

“Dead downstairs, yeah”

“There’s the team”, Samantha suggested “we could call them”.

Coulson was about to say something when Rose spoke “It's Mickey”

“Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy”

“Yeah, he's not so stupid after all”, Rose said showing them the phone. On the screen was a picture of a Slitheen.

“No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!” Mickey exclaimed when Rose rung him up.

“I could've died!” Jackie exclaimed.

“Is she all right, though? Don't put her on, just tell me”, Rose said.

The Doctor snatched the phone from Rose “Is that Ricky?” he asked “Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer”.

“It's Mickey”, Mickey said correcting him “and why should I?”

“Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you…” he then told Mickey to go onto the UNIT website.

“It says password”, Mickey said.

The Doctor plugged the phone into the conference phone speaker “Say again”

“It's asking for the password”, Mickey repeated.

“Buffalo. Two Fs, one L”, the Doctor said.

“So, what's that website?” Jackie asked Mickey.

“All the secret information known to mankind”, Mickey answered “See, they've known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark”.

“Mickey, you were born in the dark”, the Doctor said.

“Oh, leave him alone”, Rose said defending her boyfriend.

“Thank you. Password again”

“Just repeat it every time”, the Doctor replied. “Big Ben. Why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?” he asked.

“You said to gather the experts, to kill them”, Harriet replied.

“That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. No offense Coulson”, the Doctor said.

“None taken”, Coulson said.

“You don't need to crash land in the middle of London”, the Time Lord continued.

“The Slitheen were hiding and then they put the entire planet on red alert. What would they do that for?” Samantha asked.

“Sammy? Is that you?” Jackie asked sounding surprised.

“Yeah, it’s me mum”, Samantha replied.

“Are you alright? You just disappeared earlier”, Jackie said worriedly.

“I’m fine. I was called in for work”, Samantha explained.

Before Jackie could ask her anymore questions, Mickey told them that he’d gotten onto the website. The Doctor gave him instructions and soon they were listening to a strange sound. The Time Lord tried to listen to it but there was an interruption from the door bell ringing on Mickey and Jackie’s end.

“It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!” Jackie suddenly shouted.

“They've found us”, Mickey added.

“Mickey, I need that signal”

“Never mind the signal, get out! Mum just get out! Get out!” Rose shouted worried for her.

“We can't. It's by the front door”, Mickey said. A moment later he added in a panicked voice “Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us”

“There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!” Harriet exclaimed.

“I'm trying!” the Doctor snapped.

“Doctor, calm down. How do we fight them? What is their weakness?” Samantha asked trying to get him focused. She too was worried about her mother but she knew it wouldn’t help to freak out like the rest of them.

“To find out their weakness, we need to find out where they’re from”, the Doctor replied “So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!”

“They're green”, Coulson stated.

“Yep, narrows it down”

“Good sense of smell”, Indra supplied.

“Narrows it down”

“They can smell adrenalin”, Rose put in.

“Narrows it down”

“The pig technology”, Harriet added.

“Narrows it down”

“The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?” Rose said.

“Narrows it down”

“It's getting in!” Mickey shouted over the phone.

“They hunt like it's a ritual”, Samantha said.

“Narrows it down”

“Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er…”

“Bad breath!” Rose exclaimed.

“That's it!” Harriet confirmed.

“Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!” the Doctor said happily.

“We’re getting there mum!” Rose said into the speaker.

“Too late!” Mickey shouted and they all can hear some sort of commotion on their end of the phone.

“Calcium phosphate, organic calcium, living calcium, creatures made of calcium, what else, what else, hyphenated surname, yes that narrows it down to one planet! Raxacoricofallapatorius!”

“Try saying that 5 times fast”, Samantha said.

The Doctor instructed Mickey to go to his kitchen to look for anything with vinegar. “What do you need?” Jackie asked having taken the phone from Mickey after he couldn’t find anything with vinegar in it.

“Anything with Vinegar!” the Doctor answered.

Jackie listed off items over the phone as she added them to the plastic jug. “You kiss this man?” the Doctor asked Rose who just ignored him. The six of them listened as there was a crash followed by what sounded like a muffled fart and explosion.

“Mickey, mum are you two ok?” Samantha asked.

“We’re fine” came Jackie’s voice which relieved both sisters.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it”, the Doctor said after listening to the news through the speaker.

“Do you think they'll believe him?” Harriet asked.

“They did last time”, Rose replied.

“That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out”

“They release the defence codes”, Rose began.

“And the Slitheen go nuclear”, Coulson finished working it out.

“But why?” Harriet asked.

“So they can attack other countries. Then those countries retaliate and voila! World War Three”, Samantha explained.

The Doctor crossed the room and opened the metal shutters. Harriet, Rose, Samantha, Coulson and Indra following. “You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked”, he stated. 

“And you can sit in your spaceship that is parked in the Thames”, Coulson added now realising why the spaceship ‘crash landed’ in the river. It was close to Downing Street.

“Precisely”, Margret said sounding pleased about it.

“But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?” Harriet asked.

“Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert”, the Doctor said.

“The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel”, Margaret told them still sounding rather pleased about destroying the Earth.

“At the cost of five billion lives”, Samantha retorted.

“Bargain”

“I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you”, the Doctor said serious. All the Slitheen burst out laughing.

“What, you? Trapped in your box?” Margret asked.

“Yes. Me” with that the Doctor pressed a button making the metal door slide shut again.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“All right, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do”, Jackie said rather reluctantly.

“If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid”, Harriet suggested.

“Mickey, any luck?” Rose asked her boyfriend.

“There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail”, Mickey replied.

“Voicemail dooms us all”, Indra moaned.

“If we could just get out of here”, Rose said looking around.

“There's a way out”, the Doctor said.

“What?” Rose asked turning to face him incredulously.

“There's always been a way out”, the Doctor said.

“Then why don't we use it?” Rose asked.

“Because I can't guarantee your daughters will be safe”, the Doctor said into the speaker.

“Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare”, Jackie said. She did not want to lose Rose or Samantha.

“That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies”, the Doctor countered.

“Do it”, Rose said.

The Doctor looked up at her.  “You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?” he asked.

“Yeah”, Rose said simply.

“Me too”, Samantha agreed.

“Please, Doctor. Please. They’re my daughters”, Jackie pleaded.

“Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will”, the Doctor said trying to stay calm.

“Then what're you waiting for?” Samantha asked.

“I could save the world but lose you both”, the Doctor replied.

“Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine”, Harriet said.

“And who the hell are you?” Jackie demanded.

“Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it”

“So how do we get out?” Rose asked.

“We don't. We stay here”, the Doctor replied. He then told Mickey what to do. Samantha thought he was mad to fire a missile at Downing Street but she didn’t voice her opinion. _At least my mother and Skye will be safe_ she thought knowing by destroying 10 Downing Street, the Slitheen would be killed.

 “How solid are these?” Harriet asked checking the walls.

“Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big”, the Doctor replied.

“All right, now I'm making the decision. I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a doorframe. Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong”, Rose explained.

“We can ride out the explosion in the cupboard”, Samantha added.

“Exactly”, Rose agreed. She and Samantha then started to empty the cupboard to make room for the six of them. Coulson joined them in emptying the cupboard out too, Indra and Ganesh helping when Samantha told them to.

Once finished they all get inside the cupboard, linking hands with one another “nice knowing you”, Harriet said taking hold of Rose’s hand “Hannibal!” she shouts as they brace themselves.

BOOM!

Samantha closed her eyes as the cupboard rolled around several times before coming to a stop. “Made in Britain!” Harriet cheered after the Doctor pushed the door off the Cabinet Room. They all clambered out, one after another. “Oh, my God. Are you all right?” a soldier asked running up to them. Harriet pulled out her ID.

“Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news”

“Yes, ma'am”, the soldier said

“Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister”

“Maybe you should have a go”, the Doctor suggested.

“Me? I'm only a back-bencher”, Harriet said waving off their suggestion.

“I'd vote for you”, Rose said.

“Same here”, Samantha agreed.

“Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!”

“I’d better go help her”, Indra added before hurrying off after the woman.

“We’re going to have fun explaining this to the rest of the team”, Samantha remarked and Coulson agreed with her.

“We're safe! The Earth is safe!” Harriet called as she made her way towards a crowd of people.

The five of them watched for a moment before turning and walking off “I thought I knew the name”, the Doctor says as they walked.

“Who?” Samantha asked.

“Harriet Jones. Future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms, the architect of Britain’s Golden Age”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was safe to say that Jackie was extremely relieved to see that both her biological and adopted daughter were ok. After staying for a little bit, Samantha took Rose to the Safe House so she could meet the team. “Guys I want you to meet my sister Rose”, Samantha said to them all. She then introduce each one of them to Rose. The teen was very surprised to learn that Samantha had an identical twin.

Once introductions were out of the way, the next couple of hours were spent telling Rose stories on their missions and funny things that went on in the Bus. Rose broke away from the group when her phone rang. A little TARDIS icon was on the screen. “Sammy”, she called gesturing to come over when Samantha looked at her.

When Samantha came over, Rose answered the call “Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go”, the Doctor said.

“You've got a phone?” Rose asked in surprise.

“You think I can travel through space and time and I haven't got a phone?” the Doctor asked.

“Well I wouldn’t have thought you had a phone. Because if you did, you could’ve called me to let me know that my sister was ok”, Samantha pointed out.

“Again I’m really sorry. Tell you what, I’ll make it up to you”, the Doctor said.

“How?” Samantha asked.

“Right now there’s this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula. Fires are burning ten million miles wide. I could fly the Tardis right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out. Hurtle right across the sky and end up anywhere”, the Doctor replied.

“Sounds like fun. When do we leave?” Samantha asked already excited.

“In a couple of hours, I just need to send out a dispersal to cancel out the Slitheens advert. In case any bargain hunters show up”, the Doctor answered.

“Ok, see you in a couple of hours”, Samantha said and hung up. The sisters exchanged excited looks about their upcoming adventure. 


	16. SOS

The TARDIS materialises in a dimly lit area with carpeting and display cases. “So what is it? What's wrong?” Rose asked as she, Samantha and the Doctor stepped out of the box. They were on their way to the Horsehead Nebula when the TARDIS suddenly changed course which had startled them all.

“Don't know. Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course…”

“Where are we?” Samantha asked taking a look at their surroundings.

“Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground”, the Doctor replied.

“And when are we?” Samantha asked.

“2019”, the Doctor answered.

“God, that's so close. So I should be 26” Rose turned to Samantha “and you’ll be 27”. 

“That’s about right”, Samantha agreed. As no one from the orphanage knew when exactly she was born, they picked a date based upon how old they thought she was at the time when she first arrived. That put her one year older than Rose, which wasn’t so bad as that meant a small age gap between them as they grew up together.

The Doctor flicks a switch and lights flood the room “Blimey! It's a great big museum”, Rose said seeing the display cases around them.

“An Alien Museum”, the Doctor corrected walking past cases “Someone's got a hobby. They must have spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, moon dust…that's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship” he named them as he passes the cases.

Rose and Samantha noticed something familiar in one of the cases “That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen's arm”, Rose said.

“And it's been stuffed”, Samantha said disgusted. As much as she didn’t like the Slitheen, she thought it was rather morbid to have a piece of it on display.

“Ah! Look at you!”, the Doctor said seeing something else in another case.

“What is it?” Samantha asked looking at what appeared to be a robot head with handlebars on top.

“An old friend of mine…well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old”

“Is that where the signal's coming from?” Rose questioned.

“Nah, its stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help” he places the tip of his finger on the glass. Immediately an alarm and they’re promptly surrounded by soldiers all pointing their guns at the trio. Samantha didn’t bother pulling out her own gun as she knew she couldn’t take them all unlike Ward or May. Even if she could, she Rose was there and she wouldn’t risk sister’s safety.

“If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A”, Rose said.

They were promptly escorted to an office after a quick search which revealed Samantha’s ICER. While Rose wasn’t surprised as she’d seen her use it before, the Doctor was very surprised. He never expected her to be carrying a gun. It made him wonder how much she’d changed in the year she was living on Earth.

“What does it do?” Van Statten asked Adam who was showing him his latest purchase.

“Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel”, Adam guessed.

“I really wouldn't hold it like that”, the Doctor cut in seeing how Van Statten was holding the item in his hands.

“Shut it”, Goddard, the woman who’d escorted the trio into the room, snapped. Samantha noticed how uncomfortable the curly haired woman was in holding her gun. _Looks like someone doesn’t like guns very much_ she thought.

“Really, though, that's wrong”, the Doctor insisted.

“Is it dangerous?” Adam asked.

“No, it just looks silly”, the Doctor replied reaching for the item. Several security personnel readied their weapons making him pause. Van Statten held up a hand, signalling the men to lower their weapons. He then handed the object to the Doctor. “You just need to be...” the Time Lord gently stroked the item and it made a pleasant noise “Delicate”.

“It's a musical instrument”, Samantha said.

“And it's a long way from home”, the Doctor added. Van Statten snatched it from him and tried to do the same but harsher sounds were produced instead. “I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision”, the Doctor said. Van Statten changed his touch on the instrument and pleasant sounds “Very good. Quite the expert”, the Doctor said.

“As are you”, Van Statten said. Much to the dismay of the Doctor, he carelessly tossed the instrument aside. “What is that Goddard?” Van Statten asked noticing the futuristic looking gun in her hand.

“A gun of some sort. The girl had it on her”, Goddard replied nodding to Samantha. She handed it over to Van Statten who examined it.

“This isn’t like any normal gun” he ejected the magazine “and these aren’t normal bullets” he added looking at one “what type of gun is this?”

“Mine, now give it back”, Samantha said holding a hand out.

“I think I’ll hold onto this”, Van Statten said. 

“No you won’t. Now give it back before I introduce your face to my fist”, Samantha threatened.

“You wouldn’t be able to land a blow before my men stop you”, Van Statten scoffed.

“You wanna bet? I’ve spent a year training with someone who is a combat specialist. So trust me when I say, that I can knock you on you backside before you men can stop me. Now give me back my gun”, Samantha countered. Van Statten hesitated in giving it back to her but when she gave him a look to say she wasn’t kidding, he gave the ICER back. “Thank you”, Samantha said holstering it.

“Who exactly are you three?” Van Statten asked wanting act like he wasn’t just threatened by a girl.

“I’m the Doctor”, the Doctor said introducing himself “This is Rose and Sam” he added gesturing to the girls “And who are you?”

“Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake”, Van Statten said.

“Pretty much sums me up, yeah”, the Doctor confirmed.

“The question is, how did you get in? 53 floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplices” the man looked at both Rose and Samantha “You're quite a collector yourself, they’re rather pretty”.

“This is Mr Henry Van Statten”, Adam told them.

“And who's he when he's at home?” Rose asked.

“Oh she’s English too!” Van Statten remarked “Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy, got you a girlfriend”.

“Mister Van Statten owns the internet”, Adam said answering Rose’s question, pretending that he didn’t hear Van Statten’s comment.

“Don't be stupid. No one owns the internet”, Samantha retorted.

“And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?” Van Statten said.

“So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up”, the Doctor said.

“And you claim greater knowledge?” Van Statten asked.

“I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am”, the Doctor said.  

“And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?” Van Statten asked.

“You tell me”, the Doctor said.

“The cage contains my one living specimen”, Van Statten explained.

“And what's that?” the Doctor asked.

“Like you don't know”

“Show me”, the Doctor challenged.

“You want to see it?”

“Blimey, you can smell the testosterone”, Rose commented. Samantha nodded in agreement. Van Statten turned to Goddard.

“Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down” he then turn his attention to Adam “You, English. Look after the girls”. Van Statten didn’t particularly want the brunette anywhere him especially after the threat she gave. “You, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet” with that Van Statten walked towards the lift.

After they’d gone, Samantha and Rose turned to Adam who looked less than thrilled to be looking after the sisters. Especially Samantha as she was armed and had the courage to stand up to his boss even going as far to threaten him.

\---------------------------

“Sorry about the mess”, Adam said apologetically when they entered his workshop “Mr Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods” Adam handed Rose a piece of metal “What do you think that is?” 

“Er, a lump of metal?” Rose said unsure what it could be.

“Yeah. Yeah, but I think…well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spacecraft”, Adam explained “The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist”.

“That's amazing”, Rose said.

“I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeming with life”, Adam said.

 _If only he knew_ Samantha thought wandering around the room taking in the various items. “I'm gobsmacked, yeah. And you do what, sit here and catalogue it?” Rose asked smiling slightly.

“Best job in the world”, Adam said sounding rather proud about it.

Samantha rolled her eyes. That was hardly the best job in the world, in her opinion. Something in a basket caught her eye. She went over, rooted through the rubbish, carelessly tossing bits out much to Adam’s annoyance.

“Hey!” Adam exclaimed. Samantha just ignored him and kept going. When she reached the item she’d noticed, she grabbed hold and pulled it out. Samantha was surprised to find that it was a rather large gun.

“Why on earth do you have this Adam?” she asked.

“Mister Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does he wipes their memory. I kept that in case I needed to fight my way out one day”, Adam explained.

Samantha snorted “you? In a fight?”

“I could do”, Adam insisted.

“What are you going to do? Throw your A levels at them?” Samantha shot back setting the gun down.

“So Adam wouldn't you rather be downstairs?” Rose asked changing the subject “I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mr Van Statten's got a living creature down there”

“Yeah… Yeah, well, I did ask, but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch through on the comm. system”, Adam said.

“Let's have a look, then”, Rose said.

 Samantha and Rose watched over Adam’s shoulder as he accessed the camera feed to the cage where Van Statten’s ‘pet’ was being held. “It doesn't do much, the alien. It's weird. It's kind of useless… It's just like this… great big pepper pot”

“It's being tortured!” Rose exclaimed as they watched a man take a drill to it, the alien screamed.

“Hold on, where’s the Doctor?” Samantha asked. She knew that Van Statten was going to show the Time Lord his pet but the man wasn’t there.

“I don't know”, Adam said.

“Take us down there now”, Rose demanded and Adam complied.

~the cage~

“Don't get too close”, Adam warned the girls as they entered the cage. Rose slowly approached the ‘pet’, the last Dalek. 

“Hello” she said. It didn’t answer her. “Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler and this is my sister Sam. We've got a friend, he can help. He's called the Doctor. What's your name?”

“Yes”, the Dalek said.

“What?” Rose asked confused. It raised its eye stalk to look at her.

“I am in pain. They torture me, but still… they fear me. Do you fear me?” the Dalek asked.

“No”, Rose replied. She felt sorry for it.

“You’re dying aren’t you?” Samantha asked.

“Yes”, the Dalek replied.

“No, we can help!” Rose cried.

“I welcome death. But I’m glad…that before I die… I met two humans who weren’t afraid”, the Dalek said. Rose looked at the Dalek sadly, hating the fact that there wasn’t anything she could do. Samantha also felt a little sorry for it. It must’ve been beyond awful to have been held prisoner and subjected to torture for god knows how long. Probably several years.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Rose asked.

“My race is dead” the Dalek said quietly “I shall die alone”.

Tears in her eyes, Rose gently placed a hand on the Dalek’s metal dome “Rose, no!” Adam exclaimed but it was too late. Where Rose put her hand suddenly burned orange and she snatched her hand back.

“Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction!” the Dalek said sounding far more alive. Samantha pulled her sister away as the Dalek burst from its chains. Simmons, the man who’d been torturing the Dalek ran in.

“What the hell have you done?” he demanded. Simmons approached the Dalek who points his sucker at him “Whatcha gonna do?” he asked “sucker me to death?”

 _Poor choice of words_ Samantha thought as the Dalek proceeded to do just that. While it was killing Simmons, the trio made their escape.

 “It's killing him! Do something!” Rose shouted at Bywater, the guard who was just outside.

“Condition red! Condition red!” he called over the intercom and sounded the alarm.

In the room the Doctor was being held prisoner, both the Time Lord and Van Statten also heard the alarm. “Release me if you want to live”, the Doctor told the American. Van Statten wasted no time in undoing the chains on the Doctor’s wrists.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose, Samantha and Adam ran along the corridor with De Maggio bringing up the rear. Bywater and the other guards tried to stop the Dalek by shooting at it but that was, unfortunately for them, unsuccessful. Hence why, the sisters, Adam and De Maggio were running as fast as they can away from the Dalek. That and Bywater had ordered the female guard to get the trio to safety.

“Stairs! That's more like it. It hasn't got legs. It's stuck!” Rose said happily when they reached a set of stairs.

“It's coming! Get up!” De Maggio shouted at them. They hurried up a flight and looked down at the Dalek.

“Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs”, Adam mocked looking down at the metal alien. De Maggio demanded that it surrendered but the alien didn’t listen instead it said “Elevate”

Samantha’s eyes widened as the alien began to glide up the stairs towards them. “Adam, get them out of here”, De Maggio ordered.

“Come with us. You can't stop it”, Rose said to her painfully recalling all those people who died trying to stop the alien when it escaped the room it had been confined in.

“Someone's got to try. Now get out! Don't look back. Just run”, De Maggio ordered. Samantha, Rose and Adam raced up the rest stairs. When they reached a corridor, they all heard the sound of a weapon firing and a scream.

Samantha hated the fact that so many people had died because of the Dalek. She also hated the fact that she was carrying an ICER, not a real gun. Although guns don’t seem to be that effective on the Dalek anyway.

The trio then raced across a loading bay where several soldiers were waiting for the Dalek. When Rose, Samantha and Adam reached the doorway at the other end, the metal alien entered. The blonde teen paused as it looked straight at her.

“It was looking at me”, she said leaning on the wall in the corridor.

“Yeah, it wants to slaughter us”, Adam said.

“I know, but it was looking right at me”, Rose insisted “It's like there's something inside, looking at me, like…like it knows me”

“Because you touched it?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah maybe”, Rose answered.

“Do you think we could possibly have this conversation away from the murderous alien?” Adam asked eager to get as far away from the Dalek as possible.

~staircase~

Rose phone rang as she, Samantha and Adam ran up another set of stairs. “This isn't the best time”, she said answering it.

“Where are you?” the Doctor asked.

“Level 49”, Rose replied.

“You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level 46”, he said.

“Can't you stop them closing?” Rose asked.

“I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. Now for God's sake, run”, the Doctor said. Rose relayed the information to Samantha and Adam and they ran faster. The moment they reached level 46 a klaxon sounded. Both Adam and Samantha managed to get under the closing door.

“Rose!” Samantha cried seeing her sister go down. She tried to roll under the gap but Adam grabbed her arm. The brunette yanked her arm out of his grip, shoving him back. She then scrambled back under the door. “Come on”, she said helping her sister to her feet. Together they ran back to the door but it was too late, the bulkhead door was closed. They were trapped with the Dalek.

“Rose did you and Sam make it?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m afraid not, we’re both too slow”, Samantha replied. She gave Rose as she opened her mouth to say it was all her fault.

The sister’s glance behind them to see the Dalek come around the corner “see you then, Doctor”, Rose said “it wasn’t your fault. Remember that, ok? It wasn’t your fault. And you know what? I…” Rose broke off as she choked up.

“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world”, Samantha said finishing the sentence for Rose. She turned to her sister and hugged her. “I love you Rosie”.

“I love you too”, Rose said.

The girls held onto each other tightly as the Dalek grew closer. 

“Exterminate!” the Dalek shouted firing its weapon.

The Doctor yanked the earpiece out of his ear after he’d heard the sound of the Dalek’s weapon being fired. “I killed them”, he said quietly. He was devastated. He’d lost not only one but _two_ companions.

“I'm sorry”, Van Statten said, his voice full of regret.

The Doctor turned to Van Statten “I promised their mother I’d look after them. Rose and Sam were only here because of me, and you're sorry? I could've killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me”, he said angrily.

“It was the prize of my collection!” Van Statten cried.

The Time Lord grew furious. All this guy cared about was his precious collection. He didn’t care about those men who’d died. He didn’t care that the girls were dead. “Your collection? But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth Sam? Worth Rose? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater”

“Exactly!” Van Statten stood up “I wanted to touch the stars!”

“You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them” the Doctor said angrily “You're about as far from the stars as you can get. And you took them down with you” his expression changed from furious to grief-stricken “they were so young”, he added quietly. Rose was only 19 and Sam was just a year older. They had their whole lives ahead of them. He had no idea how he was going to tell Jackie that neither of her daughters was coming home.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samantha opened her eyes and lifted her head from Rose’s shoulder. They were still alive! She looked at the Dalek which was just sitting there “why didn’t you kill us?”

“I feel your fear”, the Dalek replied. Rose moved her head from Samantha’s shoulder when she heard her sister speak.

“What did you expect?!” Rose asked almost hysterically.  She grateful to be still alive but rather puzzled at the same time. The Dalek had no problems killing De Maggio or the others so why hadn’t it killed them?

“Daleks do not fear. Must not fear. You gave me life. What else have you given me?” the Dalek grew hysterical and Samantha pulled Rose behind her “I am contaminated”. It fired wildly, hitting the wall either side causing them both to flinch.

When the Dalek finally calmed down it turned its attention to the camera mounted on the wall. In Van Statten’s office, the screen flickered to life. It showed Rose and Samantha alive standing next to the Dalek. “Open the bulkhead or Sam and Rose dies”, it ordered.

“You're alive!” the Doctor exclaimed joy and relief breaking out on his face.

“Can’t get rid of us that easily”, Samantha said trying to sound cheery.

“I thought you two were dead”

“Open the bulkhead!” the Dalek ordered again.

“Don't do it!” Rose shouted at him.

“What use are emotions if you will not save the women you care about?” The Doctor stared at the screen stunned. He turned to Van Statten who looked at him shocked.

The Doctor went back to the screen “I killed them once. I can't do it again”. He hit a key and the bulkhead door started to open.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samantha stood in the lift next to the Dalek, Rose just behind her. It meant that Samantha was rather close to the Dalek but she’d rather it was her than her little sister. “When we get up there, you can’t kill them”, she said to the alien.

The Dalek swung its eye stalk around so fast that Samantha had to quickly move as to not get hit. “But why not?” the Dalek asked “My function is to kill”.

“You shot at Rose and I but didn’t kill us. So you can’t kill them”, Samantha said.

“What I am Sam? What am I?” the Dalek demanded.

“I don’t know”, Samantha honestly replied.

When the lift doors opened, Van Statten was standing in the office alone. “Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself”, Rose told him as the Dalek moved towards the man. 

“Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?”

Van Statten backed away, clearly terrified of the Dalek “I wanted to help you. I just…I don't know. I was trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you…I wanted you better, I'm sorry” his back hit a wall “I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk!”

“Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate!” the Dalek cried. Van Statten winces “Exterminate!”

Rose rushed over “Don’t do it! Don’t kill him!” she exclaimed. The Dalek spins to face her “You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else. Not just killing…what else is there? What do you want?”

The Dalek looks at Van Statten then back to Rose. Its eye piece also shifted to look at Samantha who’d hung back. “I want freedom”, the Dalek replied. It, Rose and Samantha got back into the lift and headed for floor one of the museum.


	17. The Dalek's mutation

The Dalek stopped in the middle of floor 1 and blasted a hole in the ceiling, allowing light to filter in. “You're out. You made it”, Rose said. She looked up at the hole and smiled “I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again”.

“Me neither”, Samantha agreed.

“How… does… it… feel?” the Dalek asked. Rose was going to reply when the casing of the Dalek opened to reveal a one eyed mutant. Both girls watched it hold out watched it hold out one of its feelers toward the sunlight. They both gazed at it until a voice behind them made them both jump.

“Get out of the way”

Samantha and Rose turned and saw the Doctor standing there holding a large gun. Samantha realised it was the exact same gun that she’d found in Adam’s workshop. “Samantha, Rose get out of the way now!”

“No”, Rose said not moving “I won't let you do this”.

“That thing killed hundreds of people”

“It's not the one pointing the gun at me”, Samantha retorted. She hadn’t moved either.

“I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left”, the Doctor said.

The sisters moved to the side to show the exposed Dalek “Look at it”, Rose said.

“What's it doing?” the Doctor asked confused.

“It's the sunlight, that's all it wants”, Samantha told him.

“But it can't”, the Doctor said his voice shaking.

“It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill us. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?” Samantha demanded.

The Doctor lowered the gun looking completely lost. “I couldn’t…” both Rose and Samantha stared at him as he started to tear up “I wasn’t…” he looked at the Dalek then back at the girls “oh Rose, Sam. They’re all dead”

Samantha’s heart ached seeing how lost, how broken the Doctor looked at that moment. All she wanted to do was to give him a hug, assure him that everything was going to be ok.

“Why do we survive?” the Dalek asked.

“I don't know”, the Doctor replied.

“I am the last of the Daleks”, the Dalek said, speech becoming more of an effort now.

“You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating”

“Into what?” the Dalek managed to say.

“Something new. I'm sorry”, the Doctor said apologetically.

“Isn't that better?” Samantha asked.

“Not for a Dalek”, the Doctor said. 

“I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness...Rose, give me orders...Order me to die”

“I can't do that”, Rose said shaking her head.

“This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!”

After a moment Rose spoke “Do it”

“Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?” the Dalek asked.

“Yeah”

“So am I” the Dalek said feebly “Exterminate”. 

Rose and Samantha stumbled back and goes to the Doctor’s side as the Dalek replaces its armour. It levitates in the air and the golden spheres on its casing detaches. They create a prefect sphere around the Dalek. The alien glows briefly and then explodes inside the sphere, vanishing into nothing.

Samantha stared at the spot where the Dalek once was before turning to the Doctor and gave him a hug. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist and closed his eyes, seeking the comfort that her embrace provided.

\------------------------

“A little piece of home. Better than nothing”, the Doctor said with his hand on the door.

“Is that the end of it, the Time War?” Rose asked.

 _Time War? Is that the name of the war he was in?_ Samantha thought. Looks like she had some catching up to do. “I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?”

“The Dalek survived….maybe some of your people did too”, Rose suggested.

“I'd know. In here” the Doctor tapped his temple “Feels like there's no one”. 

“Good thing neither of us are going anywhere”, Samantha said giving him a smile.

The Doctor smiled back “Yeah”

Adam jogs up to them. “We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared….”

“Darn I really wanted to punch him in the face”, Samantha said disappointed.

“They’re going to close this place down”, Adam continued “Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed”

“About time”

“I'll have to go back home”, Adam said.

“Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 15000 hours”, the Doctor told him.

“Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars…”Rose hinted.

“He could go stand outside. There’s plenty of stars in the night sky to look at without leaving Earth”, Samantha said seeing what Rose was hinting at, she wanted Adam to come. Which confused her as Adam was pretty willing to let Rose die, just to save his own skin.

“He's all on his own, Sammy. And he did help”, Rose said. 

“Rosie he left us down there with the alien death machine”, Samantha pointed out.

“So did the Doctor”, Rose retorted.

Before Samantha could defend what the Doctor did, Adam spoke “What're you talking about? We've got to leave”.

“He's a bit pretty”, the Doctor told Rose. By that comment Samantha knew he was going to let Adam come.

“I hadn't noticed”, Rose said innocently.

“On your own head” the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS.

“What're you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in”, Adam said. The Doctor, Rose and Samantha entered the TARDIS, ignoring him. “Doctor? What're you doing standing inside a box? Rose? Sammy?”

Adam peers through the doors and steps inside. “Welcome to the TARDIS”, Samantha said watching him gape at the sheer size of the console room.

“It’s…”

“Bigger on the inside”, Samantha interrupted “yes, we know” she walked to the console and held on “You might want to hold to something, the ride can be a little bumpy”. Adam walked over to the console and stood next to Rose, copying how she held on “oh and one more thing. Don’t call me Sammy”, Samantha added.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the TARDIS stopped shaking, Rose took Adam to go find him a room and show him around the rest of the ship. “You think it’s a mistake having him along”, the Doctor said seeing the way she looked at Adam as he walked off with Rose.

“Yeah I do. He doesn’t seem to care about other people’s lives. After all he left Rose behind and tried to stop me from going back for her”, Samantha said.

“Tell you what. He gets one chance. If he messes up at all during our next trip, he goes home. Deal?” he extended his hand. Samantha shook it and said

“Deal” she then remembered her ICER “I suppose you’re going to want an explanation for this?” she asked pulling it out.

“That would be nice”, the Doctor replied.

Samantha crossed the room to the captain’s chair and sat down. The Doctor sat next to her “its call an ICER. I won’t tell you what that stands for because I can’t really remember. But it’s basically a tranquilizer gun” Samantha ejected the magazine and removed a bullet to show the Doctor “each one of these rounds are filled with a small concentration of dendrotoxin. Get hit with one of these and you’re unconscious for a few hours” Samantha put the bullet back in the magazine and then slid the magazine back into the gun.

The Doctor was rather relieved to hear that the gun she had was non-lethal. He would’ve been a little worried about her having it if it was a normal gun. “How come you have this ICER?” he asked.

“FitzSimmons gave it to me in case I needed to protect myself and in case you’re wondering, yes they are members of Coulson’s team too”, Samantha replied.

“How many people are in this team that you consult for?”

“Six” Samantha pulled out her phone and got up a picture of all of them together. The Doctor was surprised to two identical looking women standing side by side.

“Which one is you?” he asked.

Samantha pointed to the one with the blue shirt and hair up “that’s me” she pointed at the other one “that’s my twin sister Skye”

“I didn’t know you had a twin”, the Doctor said.

“I didn’t know either until I got that call while we were having chips” the Doctor listened as she explained how she went to the safe house and discovered that she had a twin.

“That’s why you told us to keep travelling without you”, the Doctor said now understanding. 

“Yep”, Samantha said popping the p “I wanted to spend time with my sister and thought it wasn’t fair to make you guys wait for me. I just never expected you to be gone for a whole year”.

“Again I’m really sorry about that”

“I know you are. As much as I wish I could’ve been with you guys the past year gave me the opportunity to get to know my sister”, Samantha said.

“And to join SHEILD”, the Doctor added.

“I wasn’t planning on joining initially, it was only after the mission that Coulson needed my help/expertise on that I decided being a part of his team wouldn’t be so bad. It gave me the chance to do something worthwhile, to help people. Granted it’s not archaeology but it’s definitely better than shop work”, Samantha said.

“You like archaeology?” the Doctor asked

“I love it”, Samantha said and the Doctor made a face “you don’t?”

“Not really. Not a big fan of archaeologists”, he admitted. 

“Why?” Samantha asked.

“Because I’m a time traveller, I point and laugh at archaeologists”, the Doctor said.

“Oh”, Samantha said slightly offended, given her profession.

“Not you though”, he said quickly realising that his words had just offended her “if I’d known you were an archaeologist, I wouldn’t have laughed at you. In fact I think you’d probably get me more interested in archaeology”.

“You’re just saying that”, Samantha said.

“No really, you probably would get me interested in archaeology”, the Doctor insisted. 

“Yeah right, you’re just trying to make me feel better”, Samantha said still not believing him.

The Doctor took her hand “Sam I’m not just saying that to make you feel better, I mean it”, he said with such sincerity that was rather surprising to the brunette.

“Ok”

“Now who are these other people in your team?” the Doctor asked nodding to the phone on her lap wanting to change the subject.

“Well…that’s Coulson, obviously”, Samantha said pointing to the man “he’s the leader of the team. That’s Grant Ward and Melinda May. They’re the specialists. And May’s also the pilot”, Samantha said pointing to the Asian woman and the tall dark haired man “and finally there’s Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. We mostly call them by their last names and if you’re talking about them both together its FitzSimmons. They’re the scientists of the team” she said pointing to the other man and woman in the picture.

“You said that you trained with a combat specialist. Which one was it?” the Doctor asked.

“Ward. He is both mine and Skye’s SO”, Samantha replied “Supervising Officer”, she elaborated when the Doctor looked a bit confused about the acronym. “So that’s the team. All seven of us go around the world in the Bus”.

“The Bus?”

“It’s a very large plane, pretty impressive. Well technically it’s an airborne mobile command centre but we just call it the Bus”. The next hour or so was spent telling the Doctor about some of the missions she’d been on, including some parts which were pretty funny. Rose came in with Adam while Samantha was telling the Doctor about the prank May did on Fitz which had him laughing.

Rose had to smile at the interaction between them. _Looks like they might become good friends_ she thought happily.


	18. Year 200,000

The TARDIS jerks and shakes as it travels through the time vortex. Eventually it stops and everyone lets go of the console. Although Adam was a little slower to do so as he wasn’t quite used to the rather bumpy flights, like the others were.

Rose and the Doctor headed down the ramp and out the door. Adam made to follow them when Samantha stopped him. “You get _one_ chance. Mess up, you go home”, she warned.

“I won’t mess up then”, Adam promised.

“You better not. If you do and my sister gets hurt in anyway as a result…” Samantha didn’t bother to finish that sentence, deciding to leave it to Adam’s imagination. She turned, walked down the ramp and out the door.

“Where’s Adam?” Rose asked.

“He wanted to take a minute to get used to travelling through time and space. Think he’s a little overwhelmed”, Samantha replied “so where are we?” she asked taking a look at their surroundings.

“A space station in the year 200,000”, The Doctor answered.

“Any reason for choosing this place and the year 200,000?” Samantha questioned, curious.

“Try that gate over there” the Doctor said pointing at it. When Samantha hesitated he said “go on, you’ll like what you see. I promise”. Samantha smiled, went over to the gate and opened it. She stepped into what appeared to be some sort of observation deck. Samantha stopped in front of the large window gazing out at her home planet.

She didn’t turn around when she heard three sets of feet behind her as she was too busy looking at the Earth. “The Fourth great and bountiful Human Empire”, the Doctor said coming to stand on her left, Rose standing on her right “And there it is, planet Earth at it's height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety six billion”.

“It’s incredible”, Samantha said.

“It’s also the hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle”, the Doctor added.

Behind them Adam faints with a girlish sigh. Samantha glanced at him and shook her head. The Doctor and Rose didn’t even turn around. “He's your boyfriend”, the Doctor said.

“Not anymore”

Samantha frowned “Mickey was your boyfriend last time I checked”, she said.

“It’s complicated Sammy”, Rose told her.

Samantha didn’t quite know what to say about that. She liked Mickey, not in any romantic way but as a friend. He was nice and funny. He knew how to make her laugh especially when she was feeling down during the brief time she was housebound due to her injured arms. She really hoped that Rose wouldn’t break his heart. He may not be the smartest guy in the world but he was decent. And a good boyfriend too, unlike Jimmy Stone, the guy who was the reason Rose left school prior to her A levels.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come on, Adam. Open your mind. You're going to like this”, the Doctor said cheerily with his arm around the guy “Fantastic period of history. The human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners…”

“Out of the way!” a man shouted rudely pushing past the time travellers. Suddenly the area they’d just entered sprung to life. Food stalls popping up, people bustling about chatting away. 

“Fine cuisine?” Rose asked the Doctor after inspecting the fast food behind the case nearest to her.

“My watch must be wrong” the Doctor checked it “No, it's fine. It's weird”, he said confused.

“That's what comes of showing off”, Samantha said “Your history is not as good as you thought it was”

“My history's perfect” the Doctor insisted.

“Well, obviously not”, Samantha teased “isn’t that right Rose?”

“Absolutely”, Rose agreed.

“They're all human”, Adam pointed out noticing the lack on aliens “What about the millions of planets, the millions of species? Where are they?”

“Good question. Actually, that is a good question” the Doctor jovially puts an arm around the guy’s shoulder “Adam, me old mate, you must be starving”

“No, I'm just a bit time sick”, Adam replied.

“No, you just need a bit of grub” the Doctor turned to the closest chef “Oi, mate - how much is a kronkburger?”

“2 credits 20, sweetheart. Now join the queue”, the chef said.

“Money. We need money. Let's use a cashpoint” he walked over to the nearest one and pulled out his sonic. He used it on the cash point causing a metal strip to fall out. The Doctor handed to Adam, who’d followed him over along with the Tyler sisters.

“There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets”, the Doctor said before he walked away.

“How does it work?” Adam asked him.

The Doctor turns back “Go and find out! Stop nagging me! The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers…” Samantha raised her eye brows at that while Rose laughed. Adam on the other hand just stares at him, brow furrowed. “…Or is that just me? Stop asking questions, go and do it!” the Doctor shooed Adam away. The young man turns and walks into the crowd. “Come on Sammy”, the Doctor said to Samantha after Rose left to go follow Adam.

“Don’t call me Sammy”, Samantha said as they walked “you aren’t allowed to. Yet”.

“When can I call you that?” the Doctor asked.

“Soon. Probably. I’ll let you know”, Samantha replied.

The Doctor nodded, happy with her answer. “Excuse me”, he said as they approached two smartly dressed women “Erm…this is going to sound daft, but can you tell me where I am?”

One of the women, Cathica, gestured to a huge sign on the wall “Floor 139…could they write it any bigger?”

“Floor 139 of what?” the Doctor asked.

“Must've been a hell of a party”, Cathica remarked.

“You're on Satellite 5”, Suki, the other woman, told them.

“And what’s Satellite Five?” the Doctor questioned.

“I would imagine it’s the name of this space station”, Samantha guessed.

“That’s right”, Suki confirmed. She then looked the two of them over “Wait a minute. Are you a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing?” she asked.

“You’ve got us”, the Doctor said showing Cathica and Suki the psychic paper.

“We were warned about this in basic training. All workers have to be versed in company promotion”, Suki said.

“Right, fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor 500 I'll do anything”, Cathica said.

“Why, what happens on Floor 500?” the Doctor asked.

“The walls are made of gold” Cathica stated “And you should know…Mr Management. So…this is what we do” Cathica led Samantha and the Doctor over to a set of screens. “Latest news…sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. 200 dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day…space lane 37 closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Bo has just announced he's pregnant”.

Samantha frowned at the last one. Bad Wolf again. _This is the third time_ she thought. The first had been when she saw the words spray painted on the TARDIS. The second time had been in Van Statten’s museum when she heard it over the Tannoy. And now here on Satellite 5. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Twice maybe. But three times? It had to mean something. What she didn’t know. All she could do is look out for more Bad Wolf mentions.

“I get it. You broadcast the news”, the Doctor said understanding.

“We ARE the news”, Cathica corrected “We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. 600 channels all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere”.

~floor 500~

A pale skinned man, the Editor, watched the four of them on the monitor “Something is wrong. Something fictional”, said pointing at the screen “Those people”.

“Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going though us” Cathica said on the screen to the Doctor and Samantha.

“Security check. Go deep”, the Editor ordered.

~floor 139~

“Oi! Mutt and Jeff! Over here!” the Doctor called to Rose and Adam when an alarm sounded and everyone started clearing out. Rose and Adam got up from the table and went over to join them.

~Floor 500~

 _Security check cleared_ the computer said making the Editor frown.

“No, something's wrong. I can taste it. A tiny little shift in the information. Someone down there shouldn't be here”, he said looking at the time travellers who were standing the Suki and Cathica in one of the Spike Rooms. He addressed two of the people he has working at the computers “Double check. Triple check. Follow them”

~floor 139~

The 5 of them watched as 6 more people came in and sat down, one on each side of the octagonal desk. Suki goes and sits on the only side left while Cathica stands by the chair in the centre of the ‘desk’. “Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection”, Cathica said, addressing the other people in the room. She turned to the Doctor, Rose, Samantha and Adam who were standing off to the side “How do you want it, by the book?” she asked.

“Right from scratch, thanks”, the Doctor replied.

“Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a ‘C’, in case you want to write to Floor 500 praising me, and please do” The Doctor grins, giving a non-committal jerk of his head “Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy”.

“Actually…it's the law”, Suki spoke up, correcting her.

“Yes, thank you, Suki”, Cathica said irritated by her interruption “Okay, keep it calm…don't show off for the guests…here we go” she lays down on the chair “And engage safety”

The 6 people and Suki held their hands over the pads. Cathica clicks her fingers and a door in her forehead opens up to reveal part of her brain. Samantha and the Doctor looked mildly disgusted at that while Rose is more alarmed. Adam on the other hand, leans forward slightly to get a better look. Suki and the others place their hands on the pads and close their eyes.

“And 3…2…and spike” from the contraption over the chair, a blue light shoots down and into her brain.

“Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer”, the Doctor explained as they all watched.

“If it all goes through her, she must be a genius”, Rose commented.

“Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head would blow up”, the Doctor said. He begins to slowly walk around the room, Rose and Samantha following him “The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets”.

“What about all these people round the edge?” Samantha asked nodding to them.

“They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place” the Doctor, Rose and Samantha go back around to where Adam was standing “Now that's what I call power”.

~floor 500~

_Analysis confirmed. Security breach_

“I knew it” the Editor said gleefully “Which one? It's someone inside that room. Which one?”

The camera shifts from person to person in the Spike Room.

_Isolating breach_

“Come on, show me. Who is it?” the Editor asked.

The camera focuses on Rose, the Doctor, Samantha and Adam. “You all right?” Rose asked Adam on the screen.

“I can see her brain”, Adam said.

~floor 139~

“Do you want to get out?” Rose asked.

“No….no, this technology, it's…its amazing”, Adam said.

“This technology's wrong”, the Doctor said correcting him.

“Trouble?” Samantha asked looking at him.

“Oh, yeah”, the Doctor replied giving her a smile which Samantha responds to with a smile of her own. Rose even smiles about that, rather excited.

Suddenly there was a shuddering sound and Suki twitches.

~Floor 500~

“That's it!” the Editor points at the screen, laughing in triumph “yes! She's the liar” the camera focuses on Suki “Intercept and scan. Gotcha”

~Floor 139~

Suki gasps and lifts her hands off the pad as though she’d received an electric shock. The other 5 people forced to lift their hands too and the compressed stream of information stops streaming into Cathica. The door in her head closes.

 _Somehow I don’t think that’s supposed to happen_ Samantha thought.

“Come off it, Suki. I wasn't even halfway. What was that for?” Cathica asked annoyed at the woman for stopping the session.

“Sorry. It must've been a glitch”, Suki said apologetically.

~floor 500~

“Her information's been tampered with. There's a second biography hidden underneath”, the Editor said peering closely at the screen. He glanced up when he heard a snarl from above. “Yes, sir?”

More roaring

“Absolutely, sir. Yes, well, her data was encrypted, so there's no way we could have found her sooner”

Another roar, this one angrier than the last.

“Yeah. I…sorry, sir” he put his thumbs up “Absolutely” he turned to a woman at one of the computers “Get her up here. Now”, he said urgently.

~floor 139~

A projection springs to life on the wall and the word ‘Promotion’ came over the tannoy. The Doctor, Samantha, Rose and Adam watch as Cathica prayed for her name to come up.

 _Blimey she really, really wants it_ Samantha thought.

_Promotion for …Suki Macrae Cantrell_

The words flash across the projection and Suki’s mouth drops open. Cathica looks gutted at that.

_Please proceed to Floor 500_

“I don't believe it…floor 500…” Suki said awestruck.

“How the hell did you manage that?” Cathica asked upset “I'm above you!”

“I don't know. I just applied on the off chance…and they've said yes!”

“That's so not fair. I've been applying to Floor 500 for 3 years!” Cathica cried.

“What's Floor five hundred?” Rose asked the Doctor quietly.

“The walls are made of gold”, the Doctor replied.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Cathica, I'm going to miss you!” Suki said as they stood by the lift “Floor 500…” she turned to the Doctor “thank you!”

“I didn't do anything!”

“Well, you're my lucky charm!” Suki said happily.

“All right! I'll hug anyone!” Suki giggled as the Doctor hugged her. Samantha watched the exchange feeling a little uneasy, not about the Doctor hugging Suki. She was fine with that. What was bothering her is that Suki ‘glitched’ in the session and then she got promoted. That was just a little suspicious to her.

Suki stepped out of the hug “Oh, my God, I've got to go. I can't keep them waiting…” she picked up her bag and rushed into the lift “Say goodbye to Steve for me” the doors start to close “Bye!”

“Good riddance”, Cathica muttered.

“You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs”, the Doctor said.

“We won't. Once you go to Floor 500 you never come back” _seems I was right to be suspicious_ Samantha thought looking at the closed doors. She turned to Cathica to ask her what she meant by that when Rose came up to them, without Adam.

“Rose…where’s Adam?” Samantha asked.

“He’s gone back to the Observation Deck. Think he’s a bit…” Samantha didn’t wait to hear what else she had to say before running off. 

~floor 139 Spike Room~

“Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?” Cathica asked as the Doctor and Rose followed her into the Spike Room.

“But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?” the Doctor asked setting himself in the chair.

“I went to floor 16 when I first arrived. That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all” Cathica eyed the Doctor “You're not management, are you. And neither is the brunette woman”

“At last! She's clever!” the Doctor almost cheered.

“Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything”, Cathica said.

“Don't you even ask?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, why would I?” Cathica retorted.

“You're a journalist! Why's all the crew human?”

“What's that got to do with anything?” Cathica questioned.

“There's no aliens on board. Why?” Rose asked.

“I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything”, Cathica replied.

The Doctor looked around the room theatrically “Then where are they?”

“I suppose immigration's tightened up. It's had to, what with all the threats”, Cathica answered.

“What threats?”

“I don't know…all of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away…” the Doctor and Rose watch her intently “Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see…just lots…of little reasons, that's all”

“Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn't even notice”, the Doctor said.

“Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything”, Cathica said.

“I can see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology”

“It's cutting edge!” Cathica argued.

“It's backwards! There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago”, the Doctor told her.

“So, what do you think's going on?” Rose asked.

“It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude. It's the way people think. The great and bountiful Human Empire's stunted. Something's holding it back”, the Doctor stated.

“And how would _you_ know?” Cathica demanded.

“Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?”

“91 years ago…” Cathica trailed off realising that the Doctor might actually have a point.


	19. Bank on certainty

Samantha entered the Observation Deck and saw that it was empty “damn it Adam. Where did you go?” she muttered.

~floor 16~

The lift doors open and Adam steps out. The floor is lined with desks with people sitting behind them. Adam walks past them all until he reaches a desk where a woman sat alone “Sorry, um, floor 16, that’s, um…what do you cover?” he asked.

“Medical non-emergency”, the woman, a nurse replied.

“Right, wrong floor, I’m having technical difficulties, my screen keeps freezing, blocking me out”, Adam explained.

“No that’s medical…there must be something wrong with your chip”, the nurse told him.

“Yes. Yeah of course yeah” he laughed before admitting “I haven’t got one”

The nurse rolled her eyes “no wonder you can’t get a screen to work” Adam nods at that. “What are you, a… student?”

“Yes, yeah, I’m um…” Adam sits opposite her “I’m on a research project from… the University of Mars”

The nurse rolled her eyes again “the Martian Boondocks. Typical”, she remarked.

“Yep”, Adam giggles apologetically.

“Well, you still need chipping”, the nurse informed him.

“So…does that mean like…brain surgery?” Adam asked a little hesitantly.

“That’s an old fashioned phrase…but that’s the same thing, yes”, the nurse said.

“Oh…okay…never mind. But if I get a chip…that means I could use any computer”

“Absolutely. You’ll…have to pay for it. They’ve stopped subsiding”, the nurse informed him.

“Oh! Right. Sorry for wasting your time. Thanks” Adam got up and started to leave when he remembered that he still had the credit stick in his pocket. “Hold on…can I use this?” he asked the nurse.

The woman smiled “that’ll do nicely”, she said.

~floor 139~

Samantha walked along, slightly annoyed that Adam wasn’t where Rose said he was. She paused when she noticed the Doctor, Rose and Cathica standing together in front of an open cupboard. “I can't just leave you, can I!” she heard Cathica say crossly.

“If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down. It's boiling. What's wrong with this place? Can't they do something about it?” Rose asked.

 _Good question Rose_ Samantha thought. She had noticed that it was rather warm too but never said anything.

“I don't know, we keep asking. Something to do with the turbine”, Cathica said.

“Something to do with the turbine”, the Doctor said mockingly as Samantha came to a stop behind him.

“You’re being rude again” she said making the Time Lord turn around.

“Where did you go?” he asked.

“Observation Deck”, Samantha replied “looking for our wayward companion. Who wasn’t there”. 

“He wasn’t?” Rose asked.

“Nope”, Samantha replied popping the p.

“I’m sure he’s around somewhere”, Rose said thinking that he’d probably gone back to the TARDIS. Of course she didn’t say that as she didn’t want them to know she had given her TARDIS key to Adam.

“Probably”

The Doctor turned back to the mess of wires he’d been making “you know that is a very good question you asked Rose. Why is it so hot?” he asked.

“One minute you're worried about the Empire and the next it's the central heating!” Cathica said getting rather fed up with this man.

“Well, never underestimate plumbing. Plumbing's very important”, the Doctor said. He accidently snapped a bunch of wires causing Cathica too look away, exasperated.

“Do you actually know what you’re doing?” Samantha asked watching the Doctor work.

“Of course I do”, the Doctor insisted.

“Really? Because it seems to me like you’re just randomly playing around with the wires” the Doctor manages to get a schematic of Satellite 5 on the monitor “ok, I take that back. You do know what you’re doing”, Samantha said.

“Told you”, the Doctor said.

“This is ridiculous. You've got access to the computer's core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange…and you're looking at pipes?” Cathica said looking at the screen.

“But there's something wrong”, the Doctor pointed out.

“I suppose…”

“Why, what is it?” Rose asked.

“The ventilation system. Cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out channelling massive amounts of heat down”, Cathica explained.

“All the way from the top”, the Doctor added.

“Floor 500”, Rose and Samantha said together. They exchanged smiles as it wasn’t often where they’d say something together like that.

“Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat”

“Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm missing out on a party”, Rose remarked “It's all going on upstairs. Fancy a trip?”

“I’m in”, Samantha said eager to find out what was going on despite being a little worried as to where Adam had wandered off to.

“You can't. You need a key”, Cathica informed them.

“Keys are just codes, and I've got the codes right here” the Doctor gestures to the screen and taps few keys “Here we go. Override 215.9”.

“How come it's given _you_ the code?” Cathica asked a little put out that these three strangers had been given the code whereas she’d _never_ gotten it even after applying for three years.

The Doctor glance up at the security camera “Someone up there likes me”, he said.

 _Or you found out something they didn’t want you to_ Samantha thought figuring that was the more likely option.

\---------------------

When the lift doors open on floor 500, the trio stepped out. “Huh, I’m not expert but that doesn’t look like gold to me”, Samantha said looking around at the frost covered walls “someone’s been lying to the staff big time. Wonder what else they’re hiding”.

“I’ll find that out” the Doctor said “you two should go back down stairs”.

“Tough”, Rose said and walked further into floor 500. Samantha put a hand on her ICER as she and the Doctor followed Rose, ready to pull out her weapon at a moment’s notice.

They entered another room where the Editor was watching a bunch of screens. “I started without you” he said turning around to face them “This is fascinating. Satellite 5 contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you three, you don't exist!” he laughed “Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?”

Rose spots Suki sitting at one of the screens and rushes over to her immediately “Suki. Suki!” she kneels next to the woman who doesn’t respond “Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?” Suki still didn’t respond “What have you done to her?” Rose asked the Editor.

“I think she's dead”, the Doctor said.

“But she’s working”, Samantha pointed out.

“They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going, like puppets”, the Doctor said realising that it was the reason Suki and the others were still working.

“Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back, because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?” the Editor laughs and the Doctor nods.

“It doesn't matter, because we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on” the Doctor and Samantha made to leave them they were both grabbed by three of the ‘dead’ people. Rose was also restrained by Suki grabbing her arm.

“Tell me who you are!” the Editor demanded.

“Considering that is the only thing keeping us alive, we’re not going to tell you any time soon”, Samantha said struggling against her captor.

“Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise”, the Editor said smiling.

“And who's that?” the Doctor asked.

“It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live” the creature above his head growled “Yeah. Yeah, sorry. It's a place where humans are _allowed_ to live by kind permission of my client” he snaps his fingers and points upwards.

Rose, the Doctor and Samantha looked up so see a slobbering lump of alien with a mouth full of sharp, snapping teeth.

“What is that?” Rose asked staring at it.

“You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?” the Doctor asked.

“That ‘thing’, as you put it, is in charge of the human race”, the Editor corrected. The Doctor looked at him in alarm “For almost a 100 years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by it's broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe” the Jagrafess roars “I call him Max”.

The Doctor smiles sarcastically and nods.

Not long after the Editor said that, he had all three of them restrained. “Create a climate of fear…then it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy…invent an enemy…change a vote”

“So all the people on Earth are like, slaves”, Rose said.

“Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?” the Editor asked.

“Yes”, the Doctor stated simply.

The Editor looked a bit put out “Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?”

“Yes”, the Doctor repeated.

The Editor pouted “You're no fun”, he said.

“Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am”, the Doctor threatened.

“Oh, he's tough, isn't he. But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit”, the Editor said.

“Not really”, Samantha said.

“You can't hide something on this scale. Somebody must have noticed”, Rose said.

“From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt” the Editor made a fist “and crush it” the Editor grins “Then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're so individual” the Doctor noticed Cathica out of the corner of his eye “when of course, they're not. They're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing”.

“What about you? You're not a Jagra…uh…a…”

“Jagrafess”, Samantha told Rose.

“Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human”, Rose pointed out.

“Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well”, the Editor said.

“But you couldn't have done this all on your own”, Rose said.

“No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to um…install himself” out of the corner of her eye Samantha noticed her hands start to shimmer gold. _Not now_ she thought. She couldn’t afford for the gold stuff to make an appearance now not when the Doctor didn’t know about it. And if he saw…it would mean questions. Questions she couldn’t answer just yet.

“No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life span?” the Doctor asked.

“3,000 years”, the Editor replied.

“That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system”, the Doctor said. 

“But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you?” the Editor gave a small laugh and clicks his fingers. The manacles restraining the trio sent electric shocks through them.

Samantha expected it to hurt but surprisingly it didn’t. _Maybe it’s the gold stuff_ she thought. “Leave them alone. I'm the Doctor, they’re Rose and Sam Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering”

“Tell me who you are!” the Editor shouted.

“I just said!”

“Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly…” he broke off suddenly and the Doctor looked at him questioningly. “Time Lord”

“What?”

“Oh, yes! The last of the Time Lords in his travelling machine”, the Editor said “Oh, with his little human girls from long ago…” he reaches for Rose’s face

“Don’t you touch her”, Samantha snapped, glaring at the man.

“The protective big sister”, the Editor came over to Samantha “what are you going to do if I did touch her?”

“I’ll kick your ass”, Samantha replied.

The Editor smirked, not at all afraid of her. “How are you going to do that? You’re restrained”, he said.

“I know”, Samantha said “that’s why I’ll settle for this!” she lifted her foot and kicked him hard in the chest causing him to stumble back.

“You are feisty. I see why Adam is a little afraid of you” Samantha’s eyes widened when the Editor snapped his fingers, producing a screen that showed the young man in question writhing and screaming as information was forcibly removed from his mind.

“Oh, my God. His head!” Rose exclaimed.

“I’m going to _kill_ him”, Samantha ground out glaring at the screen.

“They're reading his mind. He's telling them everything!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“And through him, I know everything about you. Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your T-A-R-D-I-S. TARDIS”

“Well, you'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first”, the Doctor said. 

“Die all you like. I don't need you. I've got the key”, the Editor said.

They all watch as the screen as the key rises out of Adam’s pocket and dangles in front of his face. “Rose!” Samantha exclaimed knowing that the only way Adam had a key was if Rose gave it to him. _She_ didn’t have one yet.

“You and your boyfriends!”

“Today, we are the headlines. We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing”, the Editor said with a smirk.

“And no one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughter house if they're told it's made of gold” the Doctor said indirectly addressing Cathica who was still there. She left the room having come to a decision.

She made her way to floor 500’s Spike Room and tossed the corpse off the chair and sat down. “Disengage safety”, she commanded and the walls lit up around her. She ordered the room to override floor 139 where Adam was “And spike!”

Blue light streamed into her mind. She thought about everything she’d seen and was told. She thought about the hidden truth of Satellite 5. It was working. Icicles on floor 500 were starting to melt. “It's getting hot”, the Doctor commented noticing. The Editor tried to get Suki to terminate Cathica’s access but it wasn’t working.

All the screens suddenly explode with sparks and the ‘people’ who’d been working at the computers fall lifeless to the floor. Samantha and Rose’s manacles come undone.

“She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano” the Jagrafess roars violently and the Doctor laughs.

“Yes! Uh…I'm trying, sir, but I don't know how she did it. It's impossible. A member of staff with an idea…” the Editor was cut of abruptly as Samantha who was now free struck him, hard. The Editor collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

“Told you I’d kick your ass”, she said, a small part of her disappointed that he went down so easily.

~floor 139~

“We're just going to go. I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage”, the Doctor told Cathica as people around them started recovering from the commotion that had just occurred.

“You'll have to stay and explain it. No one's going to believe me”, Cathica said.

“I think they’re going to start believing a lot of things now”, Samantha said.

“The human race should accelerate. All back to normal”, the Doctor added.

“What about your friend?” Cathica asked nodding to Adam. The Doctor and Samantha looked at Adam, neither happy about what he did.

“Sammy don’t”, Rose said and Samantha all but stalked over to the young man.

“I'm all right now. Much better. I've got the key” Adam showed them “well, it’s…I know…”

“Save it. I told you what would happen”, Samantha said angrily.

“Actually you didn’t”, Adam said quickly rather afraid of the look in her eyes “It all worked out for the best, didn't it?” he backed up when Samantha took a step towards him “You know, it's not actually my fault, because the Doctor…” Samantha didn’t let him finish as she shot him with her ICER.

“What did you do that for?” Rose asked as Samantha holstered her gun.

“I warned him”, she stated bending down to grab Adam’s arms. The Doctor gave her a hand and together they carried the unconscious man into the TARDIS, dumping him on the metal grating.

~Adam’s house~

Samantha tapped Adam’s foot with her own “wakey wakey”, she said. 

Adam slowly opened his eyes, groggy from the dendrotoxin. But the second he saw Samantha, he was immediately alert getting to his feet to get some distance from her. It was then that he noticed he was back at home.

“It's my house. I'm home! Oh, my God, I'm home!”

“I told you if you messed up you were going home”, Samantha said folding her arms.

“Thought you would’ve thrown me out of an airlock or something while I was unconscious”, Adam said rather relieved she didn’t. 

“I was tempted to toss you into a black hole but luckily for you Rose talked me out of it”, Samantha said.

“Is there something else you want to tell us?” the Doctor asked noticing that his answering machine had a flashing light on it, indicating that there was a message.

“No. Um…what do you mean?”

The Doctor went over to the telephone and picks it up “The archive of Satellite 5. One second of that message could've changed the world” he sonics the telephone making it explode. He then walked back to the TARDIS “That's it, then. See ya”

“How do you mean, ‘see ya’?”

“As in ‘goodbye’”, the Doctor elaborated.

“But…what about me? You can't just go. I've got my head. I've got a chip type two. My head opens”, Adam said.

“What, like this?” the Doctor snapped his fingers, opening Adam’s head.

“Don't”, he snapped his fingers, closing his head.

“Don't do what?” Samantha asked snapping her own fingers.

“Stop it!” Adam said angrily snapping his fingers again to close his head.

“All right now, Doctor, Sam, that's enough. Stop it”, Rose said wanting to stop what they were doing.

“Thank you”, Adam said grateful that he still had Rose on his side. Then the blonde snapped her own fingers. “Oi!” he protested, snapping his fingers again, closing the little door in his head.

Rose sniggered “Sorry, I couldn't resist”

“The whole of history could have changed because of you”, the Doctor said

“I just wanted to help”, Adam said feebly.

“You were helping yourself”, the Doctor retorted.

“And I'm sorry. I am, I really am, but you can't just leave me like this”

“Yes I can. ’Cause if you show that head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average, unseen. Good luck” the Doctor opened the TARDIS door.

“But I want to come with you!”

“I only take the best. I've got Rose and Sam”, the Doctor said.

“How can Sam be the best? She shot me!” Adam exclaimed.

“She tranquilized you”, the Doctor corrected. 

Suddenly Adam’s mother came through the front door sending Adam into a panic “Rose…take me with you”, he pleaded in a last attempt. Rose just looked at him and went into the TARDIS without saying anything. That left the Doctor and Samantha. “I wish I’d never met you”, he told the brunette woman bitterly.

“The feelings mutual”, Samantha said and went into the TARDIS.

“Still don’t see how she’s the best”, Adam grumbled.

“Unlike you, Sam’s not selfish. She puts other people before herself. She’s even joined an organisation whose aim is to protect people. Sam Tyler is 100 times better than you could ever be”, the Doctor said before walking into the TARDIS.

\------------------------

Rose and Samantha walked into the TARDIS chatting about their latest adventure. After the rather horrible trip to Platform One, the Doctor had taken them somewhere a bit more peaceful. A planet called Woman Wept. They spent the day there and at midnight they walked under the frozen waves of the ocean.

“So where do you guys want to head next?” the Doctor asked.

“I don’t know about you but I’m going to bed”, Rose said heading off to her room.

“Sounds like a good idea”, Samantha agreed. She went to follow her sister when her phone rang. She pulled it out and saw that the ID said Ward. “Hey Ward”, she greeted.

“Sam” Samantha frowned at the tone of his voice, it sounded like something bad had happened “Coulson is gone”.

“What do you mean gone? You don’t mean…”

“He was kidnapped”, Ward elaborated.

Samantha’s eyes widened and her grip on the phone tightened “How? When?” she asked.

“I’ll fill you in when you get here”, Ward replied.

“Where are you?”

Ward told her where the Bus was currently and she promised to be there soon. “What’s wrong Sam?” the Doctor asked gathering by that phone call, something bad had happened.

“It’s Coulson. He’s been kidnapped”


	20. Saving Coulson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based off the AOS episode: the Magical Place.

Days later…

“You really think Rathman can help us?” Samantha asked Skye as she fastened the Shimmer around her wrist.

“Hopefully”, Skye replied pulling on her leather jacket that she bought. Both twins had been kicked off of the Bus due to Skye trying to hack SHEILD’s system in order to get into Vanchat’s financials to trace the payments back to centipede. Skye had tried to get in using a computer at an internet café but unfortunately couldn’t thanks to the bracelet she had around her wrist which inhibited her from using computers.

Luckily they came across an article about Lloyd Rathman and figured that he would be their way in to tracking down centipede and finding Agent Coulson. “I hear a car pulling up”, Samantha said and pressed button the Shimmer. Skye’s eyes widened as her sister’s appearance changed. She now was paler with blonde hair and blue eyes. Samantha had explained the Shimmer to her but to see her appearance change like that with a touch of a button… it was very surprising. The Doctor had surprised Samantha by giving her the Shimmer just before she departed the TARDIS to help her team search for Coulson. His reasoning for giving it to her was just in case she had do to any uncover work, the Shimmer could disguise her better than just simply wearing a wig or changing clothes. The Doctor also mentioned that it was already reprogrammed with a disguise which funnily enough looked an awful lot like Bobbi Morse, the agent Samantha had befriended at the SHIELD facility.

Samantha stood up “you ready?” she asked.

“Yep. Let’s do this”, Skye replied. Samantha and Skye waited around the corner out of sight until Lloyd entered his home. “You’re in a lot of trouble, Mr. Rathman”, Skye stepping out.

“Who the hell are you?” Lloyd asked surprised to see her there.

“Agent Melinda May with SHIELD”, Skye replied. Samantha stepped out revealing herself to Lloyd “and this is my partner Agent Barbara Morse”.

“Look, clearly there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m a legitimate businessman”, Lloyd said.

Skye removes her sunglasses “SHIELD has evidence your company has been siphoning funds into an offshore account for some very bad people”, she informed Lloyd.

“My client’s business is their business”, he said firmly.

“Well, our business is catching those guys”, Skye countered smoothly “and if it turns out you’ve made a profit from just one of them SHIELD is prepared to freeze all of your assets”.

Lloyd gets his phone out “I’m calling my lawyer”, he said.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you”, Samantha said making sure to make her voice sound like it used to before meeting Skye. Prior to meeting her sister, she had a British accent. But since meeting Skye and the resulting year that followed, she eventually sounded just like her twin.

“Why not?” Lloyd asked with his phone against his ear.

“Because then you won’t get to hear our offer”, she replied.

“What offer is that?” Lloyd asked slightly curious.

“Immunity, you walk…free and clear. S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t touch a single asset”, Skye explained.

“Not even your party boat in Key Largo”, Samantha added.

Lloyd pulls his phone away from his ear and looks at it “And if I say no?” he questioned looking at the ‘agents’

“You spend the next five years in The Fridge”, Skye replied.

“The Fridge?” Lloyd asked confused.

“Trust me, it’s worse than it sounds”, Samantha told him. Lloyd puts his phone away.

“All right, what do you want?”

“Follow me to your office. We’ve got some work to do”, Skye said. She walked toward his office, both Samantha and Lloyd following her. Unbeknownst to the twins, the man hits the button for the silent alarm on the security system keypad mounted on the wall by the doorway of his office.

They got him to sit down at his computer to hack into a Swiss bank account. “You want me to hack into a Swiss bank account?” Lloyd asked turning Skye after tapping away at a few keys.

“I just need you to type in your private corporate ID to get me in the door”, she explained.

“Yeah, well letting you in that door is a crime”, Lloyd retorted “Come to think of it, how do I know you two aren’t criminals? In my experience a Federal Agent shows a badge”. 

Samantha pulled out her SHEILD ID and showed it to Lloyd. Skye on the other hand picks up his phone, puts it to her ear and says “SHIELD protocol six alpha victor”.

She turns the phone to show Lloyd the SHIELD logo on the screen. _Quick thinking_ Samantha thought as Lloyd took the phone from Skye. “Great. Just got my high score in Tiny Wings”, he grumbled.

“SHIELD’s been watching you for quite some time, Mr. Rathman”, Skye said moving around the desk to stand beside Samantha “You’re a prime exploit: the gambling, the divorces, that money pit in the Caymans”.

“You’re even behind on your child support payments”, Samantha added.

“Ugh, that’s a clerical thing. My ex knows that”, Lloyd said.

“But does David know that?” Skye asked.

“David thinks I’m a cool dad”

“David thinks you’re a jackass. You got to fix that, Lloyd. Kids need someone they can look up to. Now…start typing”, Skye retorted.

“PD Security! Freeze! Don’t move!” a male voice suddenly shouted behind them. The sisters spin around to see two security guards standing there. They put their hands up as the guards walk towards them.

Skye and Samantha glance at each other and nod. Samantha goes for one guard, grabbing his wrist and spins herself into him so that his gun arm was over her shoulder. From this point she flipped over her shoulder, grabbing his gun in the process. She points the gun at the guard as Skye disarms the second using the move Ward taught her just before their mission to Malta.

Seeing how quickly they’d beaten the security guards, Lloyd started typing quickly “Okay, I-I’m typing, I’m typing. You SHIELD guys don’t mess around”. Samantha and Skye exchange looks happy that them disarming the guards had gotten Lloyd to co-operate. They’d definitely gotten better since their mission to Malta thanks to Ward’s training.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually Lloyd logged into his account. “All right, we’re logged in but you do realize you can’t transfer these kinds of funds online”, he told Skye.

“We’re not looking to transfer funds. I’m looking for transaction records”, Samantha said from where she stood behind the now tied up security guards.

“Go to your account history. We need to open up a terminal emulator, see what kind of encryption they’ve got”, Skye instructed him.

“Okay”

“If it’s an SSL 256 or AES Twofish Serpent, we’re in business”, Skye said. Samantha had no clue what she was talking about but kept quiet as this was Skye’s area of expertise.

“Yeah”

“Quantum key, that’s another story”, Skye added.

“Right”, Lloyd said still staring at the computer, doing nothing.

“Lloyd. What is happening here?” Skye asked seeing that the man wasn’t doing anything she asked.

“Yeah, account history. Where is that?” Lloyd asked looking up at her.

 _Really? Even I know where that is_ Samantha thought. Skye let out a frustrated sigh and looks at the guards. She focuses on the younger looking one.

Samantha untied him so that he could take Lloyds place. Thankfully the young guard seemed understand what Skye was getting him to do. “See, the thing is…” Lloyd was cut off when Samantha tapped him on the back of the head.

“No talking”, she said sternly.

There was a beep from the computer “That’s it”, Skye said excitedly.

“You got into Vanchat’s financial records Agent May?” Samantha asked.

Skye looked up at her sister “yes we did, Agent Morse”. Samantha smiled at that but remained behind the other guard and Lloyd in case there was trouble.

“So, this Vanchat, is this the guy you’re trying to bust?” the young guard asked Skye.

“No, we already have him in custody”, she replied “What I want to know is who’s recently paid Vanchat a lot of money. I backtrack those payments to the buyer’s account and get a record of all purchases she’s made, maybe use it to track her down. Click there”.

The young guard highlights a line and clicks it. “Hello Raina. Let’s see what you’ve been up to” the guard clicked on something and Skye told him to print the page.

“Great, so are we done here?” Lloyd asked really hoping the answer was yes.

“One last thing”

Moments later the twins were speeding away in a black Lamborghini. “I don’t know about you, but that was kinda fun”, Samantha admitted, now back to her normal appearance.

Skye laughed “yeah it was a little fun”, she agreed “we better let the others know what we found”. Samantha nodded and pulled out her phone.

\----------------------------------

It wasn’t long before Skye pulls up in the abandoned town Centipede had recently purchased. They get out of the car and start walking. As they walked, Samantha eyed the mannequins remembering how she was attacked by mannequins at Henricks. She knew these weren’t living plastic, but she was still wary all the same.

The sisters stopped at one of the homes and peered in. “creepy”, Skye commented looking at the scene set up inside.

“You said it”, Samantha agreed.

“You shouldn’t be here” a man voice said behind them causing the girls to jump. They turned to see one of the Centipede soldiers standing there. Samantha and Skye took off running, the soldier chasing after them. “There’s nowhere to run!” he shouted as he chased them around the building. However, the moment he enters the open area a step after the sisters, an SUV slams into him sending him flying.

“That was good timing”, Samantha said as Ward got out of the SUV, followed by the rest of the team.

“Coulson’s got to be here somewhere. We need to split up”, Skye said. Jemma looked over her shoulder in time to see a Centipede soldier appearing.

“Or run”, Jemma said.

The rest of the team turn to look at him “I’ll take care of him”, Ward said.

“Are you sure?” May asked prepared to take him on if Ward wasn’t sure. Ward reaches into his vest to pull out the device FitzSimmons gave him earlier.

“I got this”, Ward assures them. He runs towards the soldier while May led the rest of the team away. She and Skye went one way while FitzSimmons went another, leaving Samantha on her own.

“Coulson!” she called throwing open a door to a building. There was no one inside. She turned to go look somewhere else when she heard Jemma shout for help. She ran towards the calls for help and found Jemma cornered by a Centipede solider, Fitz on the ground.

Samantha grabbed a plank of wood, ran up and struck the soldier around the back of the head. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to do anything other than get the man’s attention. The soldier turned and before she could do anything else, he struck her hard. “Sam!” Jemma cried seeing her friend go flying.

Samantha landed hard on the ground. She grunted as she pushed herself into a sitting position “get out of here!” she shouted to Jemma who was helping Fitz up. She got to her feet as the soldier advanced “Go!” she shouted at FitzSimmons who hadn’t moved. Samantha engaged the solider not even checking to see if the pair had done what she asked.

She ducked and dodged the solider, managing to land a few hits. Not that they did her any good. Samantha groaned when she hit the wall of the building she was thrown against. She blinked a few times, a bit dazed as her head hit the wall rather hard. Samantha looked up from where she was slumped to see the soldier towering over her. She flung her hands up as he brought a fist down. Golden energy burst from her hands, hitting the soldier and sending him flying.

Samantha lowered her hands, staring at them as the golden glow faded. “Thank you gold stuff”, she murmured. She slowly pushed herself to her feet, wincing as she did so. Samantha went over to the soldier and carefully checked him for a pulse. She let out a relived breath glad that he wasn’t dead as she knew the Centipede soldiers were forced to fight thanks to the eye implant they all had.

Samantha then headed off to try and find everyone else, hoping that she didn’t run into another super soldier. She stopped by the edge of a building when she heard footsteps. Samantha waited until she saw the shadow of the person right by her before stepping out, swinging her fist.

“Whoa! Easy!” Ward said dodging her punch.

“Oh thank god”, she said relieved to see him.

Ward frowned when he saw the state she was in “what happened?” he asked worriedly.

“I met one of the super soldiers”, Samantha replied “And I beat him”.

Ward looked at her impressed “looks like all that training paid off”, he said rather proud of his trainee.

“Only just. I was lucky to be honest”, Samantha admitted.

“We better get you back to the Bus to get you patched up” Ward started to lead her away when she stopped.

“Hold on, what about Coulson? We still got to find him”, Samantha said.

“Skye and May found him”, Ward told her.

“Good” Samantha and Ward started walking “once I get back to the Bus I’m going to sleep for a week”.

“That actually sounds like not a bad idea”, Ward agreed. None of them had gotten much sleep since Coulson had been but now they’d found him a well-deserved rest was in order.

~the Bus~

“You Miss Tyler are going to live. You’ll feel a bit sore for few days and you’re going to have several bruises but apart from that you’re perfectly fine”, Jemma said after she finished examining Samantha “which to be honest is rather a miracle considering you fought a super soldier”.

“Yeah a miracle”, Samantha agreed. She knew that if it hadn’t been for that gold stuff she might not have beaten the guy, therefore surviving to live another day.

“Thanks for that by the way”, Jemma added.

“You’re welcome” they exchanged smiles before Samantha hopped off the stool. The pair joined Fitz who was watching Raina being escorted into a vehicle by an agent.

“Bet there aren’t any flowered dresses where she’s going”, Jemma said. Both Samantha and Fitz nodded in agreement.

“Amen to that, sister”, Fitz said.

Agent Coulson came down the metal spiral staircase, had a brief talk with Agent Victoria Hand before turning to his team. “I just want to say thank you”, he said sincerely. He looks at each one in turn who all give him a smile, even May. “Now get back to work”

Ward smiles and shakes Coulson’s hand before heading upstairs, May following him. Fitz claps him on the arm and then goes back into the lab with Jemma. That left the twins. “I heard what you both did for me”, Coulson said “so I think that its time that we remove this” he took hold of the wrist with the bracelet, held it close to his mouth and says “Disengage bracelet”.

Samantha smiled as Skye’s bracelet beeps a couple of times and opens “Are you kidding me?” Skye asked rubbing her wrist, grateful that she no longer had to wear it.

“Thought you’d like that”, Coulson said with a smile.

 “Come on, this is cause for a celebration”, Samantha said. She headed to the metal staircase pausing when her sister didn’t follow “Skye?”

“I’ll be there in a minute” Samantha nodded and went up the steps. When she was gone, Skye turned back to Coulson. “Back in that room, did they learn anything?” she asked.

“No”, Coulson replied.

“Did you?” Skye asked and Coulson gives her a ghost of a smile “I heard what you were saying”, she added meaning about how he begged to die.

Coulson shook his head “It wasn’t real. They were just messing with my head…but I appreciate your concern” Skye nods, accepting his answer, although she doesn’t really believe him “now go celebrate. That’s an order”.

Skye smiles “yes sir”, she said and quickly headed up the metal staircase to go celebrate her ‘freedom’ from the bracelet with her sister.


	21. A vulnerable point

Samantha and Rose leaned against the console watching the doors “what do you think Coulson is saying to the Doctor?” Rose asked.

“Probably making him promise to keep me safe. And what would happen if they ever found out that I got hurt while travelling through time and space”, Samantha replied.

“So they’re pretty protective of you then”, Rose said.

“We’re a team Rose, we’re all protective of each other. It’s nice knowing that someone will always have your back no matter what”, Samantha told her.

“Just like us then”, Rose said.

“Yeah, just like us”, Samantha agreed.

It was several hours after the mission when the Doctor showed up on the Bus with Rose. It had been very amusing to see the looks on the team’s faces when they saw the TARDIS appear in the cargo bay. They’d all been incredibly surprised that the Doctor was an alien even more so when he showed them the TARDIS. May and Ward didn’t stay in the box for very long as they were a little overwhelmed by the sheer size. Coulson didn’t seem too fazed and FitzSimmons acted like they were in science heaven. The duo spent a good few hours talking to the Doctor, asking him questions. Samantha was rather happy that he had two people who could understand the stuff he sometimes says a lot better than she or Rose could.

The TARDIS door opened and the Doctor stepped in. “How’d it go?” Samantha asked.

“Fine” the Doctor replied quickly.

“You sure?” Rose asked.

“Yep. So where do you two want to go next?” the Doctor asked.

Rose hesitated before telling the Doctor when are where she wanted to go. Samantha knew the date she just said, it was the date of Pete and Jackie’s wedding. “Rose are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asked knowing that Pete had died about a year after Rose was born.

“I want to see him Sammy, just this once”, Rose said.

~Register office~

The Doctor, Rose and Samantha sat at the back on the room watching the wedding.

“I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Angela Suzette Prentice…”

“I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Suzanne…Suzette…Anita…” Jackie narrowed her eyes as Pete stumbled through saying her name.

“Oh, just carry on. It's good enough for Lady Di”, she said.

“I thought he'd be taller”, Rose remarked quietly to Samantha and the Doctor. Samantha took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“To be my lawful wedded wife, to love and behold till death us do part”

~Tardis~

“It was a hit and run. Right outside the church where Stewart and Sarah were getting married. Mum said…” Rose swallowed fighting back tears as she spoke about how her father died “mum said that he was dead when the ambulance got there. He died alone” Samantha put an arm around her “can we go there? So I can be with him?”

“Of course. What’s the date?” the Doctor asked.

“7th November 1994”, Rose replied.

~Waterley Street~

“It's so weird”, Rose said stepping out of the TARDIS to see that it was just an ordinary day “The day my father died…I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day”.

“The past is another country. 1994's just the Isle of Wight” the Doctor said.

“Now are you sure about this Rosie?” Samantha asked.

“I’m sure Sammy”, Rose replied.

~Jordan Road~

The trio stood side by side on the pavement waiting. “This is it. Jordan Road”, Rose said “He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present, a vase. Mum always said, that stupid vase” Pete’s car came around the corner “He got out of his car…” the car pulled up “…and crossed the road” and stopped “Oh, God. This is it”

They watched Pete pick up the vase from the passenger seat, completely oblivious about what was going to happen. Samantha took Rose’s hand as Pete got out of the car not seeing the beige vehicle coming right for him. Rose hides her head in Samantha’s shoulder, the brunette also adverting her eyes when the car hit Pete.

“Go to him”, Samantha said to her sister. Rose looked at her father, really wanting to…but she couldn’t. She let go of Samantha’s hand and ran off.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose leant against the wall with her sister trying to comfort her. “It’s too late”, Samantha said hearing the sirens “by the time the ambulance got there, he was already dead”.

“He can’t die on his own”, Rose said pulling herself together “can I try again?”

The Doctor hesitated. He knew it would be a bad idea having two sets of themselves in one place but the look on Rose’s face… he couldn’t say no.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor, Rose and Samantha stand out of sight, watching their first selves. “Right, that's the first us. It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time. Just be careful they don't see us”, the Doctor told his companions “Wait till she runs off and then they follow. Then go to your dad”. 

For the second time, Pete’s car pulls up and comes to a stop. “Oh, God. This is it”, they hear the first Rose say.

Pete picks up the vase from the passenger seat. “I can't do this”, Rose said.

“You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but this is the _last_ time we can be here”, the Doctor told her. Rose stares at her father getting out of the car. She couldn’t watch him die again. She just couldn’t. _I can stop it_ she thought and ran out.

“Rose! No!” the Doctor shouted but it was too late.

Rose rushed past their first selves and knocked her father out of the way of the oncoming car. “Ok I did not see that coming”, Samantha said as Rose helped her father up “did you?” when the Doctor didn’t answer her, she looked at him. “What’s wrong?” she asked seeing the horrified look on his face.

“She’s put the entire Earth at risk”, the Doctor replied.

“How? All she did was save Pete", Samantha said.

“Having two sets of us in one place made it a vulnerable point and she went and changed it”, the Doctor told her. 

“And what does that mean exactly?” Samantha asked.

“Let’s just say that there are creatures which will take advantage of this situation”, the Doctor answered “and they’ll consume _everything_ until…” he trailed off not wanting to upset her by finishing his sentence.

“Until what?” Samantha asked. When the Doctor hesitated in answering her, she added “Doctor whatever it is, I can handle it. They’ll consume everything until…”

“Until the ‘offending element is removed’”, the Doctor said.

“offending element”, Samantha repeated “you mean Pete”. The Time Lord didn’t say anything but Samantha understood “They’re going to consume everything until he’s dead”, she whispered. Her gaze went over to where Rose and Pete were standing and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Sam, I’m sorry”, the Doctor said quietly.

“I-is there anything we can do?” Samantha asked trying to keep her voice level but the Doctor heard the slight wavering in her tone as she tried not to cry.

“Hope those creatures don’t come”, the Doctor answered.

Samantha cast a look at him “And if they do come?” she asked.

“Then a lot of people are in danger because I cannot stop them on my own”, the Doctor said.

“Well then”, Samantha cleared her throat, blinking away the tears “I may not be as smart as FitzSimmons but I never give up. If there is a way out of this situation, I’m not going to stop until I find it”, she said determined “you game?”

“Yeah”, the Doctor said feeling a tad better by her determination “I’m game”.

\----------------------

Pete enters the flat followed by the Doctor, Rose and Samantha. “Right, there we go”, Pete said setting down the vase “Sorry about the mess. If you want a cup of tea, the kitchens just down there, milk's in the fridge…well, it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put the milk? Mind you, there's always the window sill outside. I always thought if someone invented a window sill with special compartments, you know, one for milk, one for yogurt…make a lot of money out of that”. Rose smiles in delight as she listens to him ramble on about his ideas. The Doctor and Samantha hung back nodding politely. “…Sell it to students and things. I should write that down. Anyway, never mind that, excuse me for a minute” and with that Pete pushes past them and disappears through a door.

Rose looked around at all of her dad’s belongings “All the stuff mum kept. His stuff. She kept it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard. She used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink”, she said, reminiscing. 

The Doctor leans against the doorframe arms folded, saying nothing. Samantha took up a similar stance up against the wall, taking out her ICER. She had no idea if dendrotoxin bullets would work on the Reapers, the name of the creatures which she learned from the Doctor, but it didn’t hurt to make sure that her weapon was clean and wasn’t likely to jam. Ward had made her practice multiple times on the correct way to disassemble and reassemble a hand gun. He made her do it so many times until she could do it as fast as possible. He also drilled into her the importance of a clean weapon.

“Here it is, on display. Where it should be”, Rose continued. The Doctor tuned her out as he turned his attention to his other companion. He watched how her fingers swiftly took apart the ICER and put it back together again. And he’d admit he was impressed. Almost as impressed as when he watched her train after getting that call from Ward saying that Coulson had been kidnapped. The Doctor had never seen anyone so focused on anything before when he saw her go through different moves both offensive and defensive. In a way he was glad that he had at least one companion who was capable of taking care of herself. Samantha checked over the bullets before she smoothly slid the magazine back into the ICER. She then put the gun back into her holster.

The Doctor moved his gaze back over to Rose who was now looking at some plans on a table “Solar power”, she said with a smile “Mum said he was going to do this. Now he can”. She turned to the Doctor and Samantha smiling but neither of them smile back.

“When we met, I said ‘travel with me in space’. You said no. Then I said ‘time machine’…” the Doctor shook his head “I did it again. I picked another stupid ape” the Time Lord noticed the offended look on Samantha’s face out of the corner of his eye and felt a little bad “Sorry Sam, I don’t mean you”, he added to the brunette. Samantha nodded. She figured as much but she couldn’t help but feel a little offended by the insult. “And I should've known”, the Doctor continued “It's not about showing you the universe. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for _you_ ”.

Rose glared at him “So it's okay when you go to other times, and you save people's lives, but not when it's me saving my dad”, she said getting angry.

“I know what I'm doing, you don't. Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point”, the Doctor explained.

“But he's alive!” Rose argued.

“My entire planet died. My whole family. Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them?” The Doctor shot back.

“But it's not like I've changed history. Not much. I mean he's never going to be a world leader. He's not going to start World War Three or anything….”

“Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive”, the Doctor told her.

“What, would you rather him dead?” Rose asked.

“I hate to say this but yeah I would”, Samantha said. Rose stared at her sister hardly believing what she was saying.

“How can you say that Sammy? I thought you’d have my back on this”, Rose said rather hurt that her own sister was taking the Doctor’s side.

“Rose, I will always have your back no matter what but I can’t agree with you on this. I’m sorry”, Samantha said apologetically.

“He doesn’t deserve to die!” Rose shouted.

“Of course he doesn’t deserve to die. No one does. Going by what the Doctor has told me the Earth needs him dead to be…” Samantha was cut off when Rose slapped her hard across the face. The brunette stumbled back a few steps clutching her cheek, tears welling up in her eyes. Not from the slap, she could handle a simple slap. But where Rose hit her was still a bit tender from her fight with the Centipede super soldier.

The Doctor stepped forward “give me the key”, he demanded holding his hand out “Now!” he shouted when she didn’t give it to him straight away. Rose pulled the key out of her pocket and gave it to him. The Doctor then took Samantha’s hand and led them out of the flat ensuring to slam the door behind him.

Rose just stood there horrified about what she’d just done. She hit her sister. She’d never ever done that before.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they were far enough away from the Powell Estate, the Doctor stopped so he could check the angry red mark on Samantha’s cheek. “Its fine Doctor”, she assured him “Stings a little but I’ll live”.

“How are you so calm?” the Doctor asked. He was still angry for what Rose did, slapping Samantha and saving her father.

“Because a slap across the face is hardly something to get angry about”, Samantha said with a shrug “I’ve been hit harder than that before. Besides it’s my fault, if I hadn’t said what I said then she wouldn’t have slapped me”.

“You were trying to explain the situation to her, she just didn’t want to hear it”, the Doctor said.

“Maybe I should’ve tried to explain it another way…”

“Sam it wouldn’t have made a difference”, the Doctor cut in.

“So what do we do now?” Samantha asked.

“Go back to the TARDIS”, the Doctor replied.

“What about Rose?” Samantha asked.

“What about Rose?” the Doctor countered. Samantha could tell by the look on his face that he was going to leave the blonde teen behind and _she_ wasn’t going to be able to convince him otherwise.

~Waterley Street~

The Doctor stopped outside the TARDIS, pulled out his key and unlocked the door. When he pushed it open, they saw that the inside was gone!

“Rose”, the Doctor said angrily and ran off. Samantha hurried after him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they neared the church, they saw people milling around outside, Rose among them. “Rose!” the Doctor shouted as they drew closer to the building. The blonde turned to them with this smile on her face “Get in the church!”

Rose smile faded as she heard the urgency in his voice. The Doctor looks to her left, Rose following his gaze and before her eyes a Reaper appeared. The blonde teen screamed at it bared down on her. Before it could consume her, it was knocked away by a blast of golden energy.

“Get in the church!” the Doctor ordered. The group try to make a run for the church when two more Reapers appeared.

“Oh, my God. What are they? What are they?” Suzie exclaimed.

“Inside!” the Doctor shouted at the people who were starting to come out of the church upon hearing the commotion.

The Groom stopped his attempt to get out but his father ran off. One of the Reapers went after him and when it caught the man it consumed him. The Bride, Sarah ran for the church but a Reaper flew down, blocking her path. It too was knocked away by a golden blast of energy. Instead of going for the source, Samantha, it went for the elderly priest.

“In!” the Doctor shouted ushering the guests in. Samantha escorted a shaken Sarah inside. As she did so she noticed that she was pregnant. Once they were all in, the Doctor slammed the doors shut. The wood shuddered a Reaper bashed against it. “They can't get in. Old windows and doors. Okay. The older something is, the stronger it is. What else?” 

“We need to secure this place”, Samantha said rubbing her arms.

The Doctor nodded in agreement “let’s get to it”, he said. 

Samantha nodded and ran off to the nearest door. The Doctor watched her go still a little shocked about seeing her the time vortex again the Reapers. No human can handle it inside them, it would kill them. And yet Samantha was alive.


	22. No regrets

The Doctor was broken out of his thoughts when a younger Jackie approached him “What's happening? What are they?” she asked.

“There's been an accident in time. A wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage”, the Doctor replied.

“What do you mean, time? What're you jabbering on about, time?” Jackie demanded.

“Oh, I might've known you'd argue”, the Doctor said irritated “Jackie, I'm sick of you complaining….”

“How do you know my name?” Jackie asked

“I haven't got time for this…” the Doctor began when the woman continued talking.

“I've never met you in my life!”

“No, and you never will unless I sort this out. Now, if you don't mind, I've waited a long time to say this. Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go, and, check, the, doors”, the Doctor ordered pointing in the direction of the doors.

“Yes, sir”, Jackie said after staring at him for a moment.

“You enjoyed that didn’t you?” Samantha asked coming over.

“Just a bit”, he admitted “I saw what you did outside”.

“I guess you want an explanation”, Samantha stated.

“That would be nice”, the Doctor agreed.

“Ok” Samantha looked around “maybe we could have a talk somewhere a little more private”. The Doctor nodded in agreement. They walked down the aisle and where they were stopped by Stuart.

“My dad was out there”, he said sadly.

“You can mourn him later. Right now we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive”, the Doctor told him.

“My dad had…” Stuart began.

“There's nothing I can do for him”, the Doctor cut in.

“No, but he had this phone thing. I can't get it to work. I keep getting this voice…” Stuart handed the phone over to the Doctor. He put it to his ear and heard

“Watson, come here. We need you. Watson, come here. We need you”

“That’s the very first phone call”, Samantha said having heard it too.

“You’re right” the Doctor handed the phone back “I don't think the telephone's going to be much use”

“But someone must have called the police”, Stuart called after him as he and Samantha continued on their way. The Doctor turned to him and the other guests.

“Police can't help you now. No one can. Nothing in this universe can harm those things. Time's been damaged and they've come to sterilise the wound” the Doctor made eye contact with Rose “By consuming everything in sight”.

“Is this because…” Rose began shakily “Is this my fault?”

The Doctor didn’t say anything, just gave her a simple look. A look that said yes, it was her fault. The Doctor turned and walked into the Vestry, followed by Samantha. The brunette woman sat down on a chair, the Doctor sitting down next to her.

“There isn’t too much I can tell you about this ‘gold stuff’. I don’t really remember how I got it, that day is still pretty fuzzy to me…” the Doctor listened as Samantha told him the very little she could remember and what her friend River had told her about that day “…I’m rather grateful River told me and given me all her notes to try and jog my memory. Unfortunately the notes and the photos hasn’t really done anything to help me remember” Samantha went onto tell him about her stay in the SHIELD facility and how the scientists couldn’t understand what the gold stuff was. All they knew is that is wasn’t harming her, quite the opposite. It was helping her to heal from the injuries she’s sustained to her arms. “I never really saw the gold stuff…”

“Ok I’m going to correct you here. This gold stuff you’re telling me about. It Time Vortex energy. The only way you could’ve gotten that in you is if you looked into the heart of the TARDIS”, the Doctor said. It was the only explanation unless the mini obelisk she’d told him about was full of the stuff, which he highly doubted.

“If I did I don’t remember”, Samantha said “This Time Vortex energy, is it dangerous?”

“It can be. Humans can’t take in the vortex without it killing them and yet…”

“Here I am, alive and well”, Samantha finished.

“Exactly. I’d say that I would run some tests when we get back to the TARDIS but considering we’re stuck in a church surrounded by Reapers, that’s not going to happen”, the Doctor said.

“We aren’t going to survive this are we?” Samantha asked.

“I’m afraid not”, the Doctor said.

“After everything I’ve seen and done; I’m going to die by a giant alien bat thing”, Samantha said after a moment.

“You have any regrets?” the Doctor asked, curious.

“A few”, Samantha replied “But the one thing I don’t regret is meeting you”.

“Really?” the Doctor said both surprised and pleased by her answer.

“Really. I got to see the stars, up close. There are a lot of people who could only dream of doing that, including FitzSimmons. I got to _actually_ do it. And yes there has been some bad parts, like pretty boy but like I said in Van Statten’s Museum; I wouldn’t have missed this for the world” Samantha lightly kissed his cheek “so thank you Doctor”.

“You’re welcome Sam”, Samantha stood up “where are you going?”

“To double check the place is secure”, she replied and walked out. A moment later she stuck her head back through the door “oh you can call me Sammy now. If you want”.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Samantha checked one of the doors Stuart and Sarah approached her “I saw what you did out there”, Stuart said making her turn around.

“I’m sorry?”  Samantha asked confused.

“Outside the church”, Stuart elaborated “I saw what you did, how you saved Sarah from that thing. And I just want to say thank you”.

“You’re very welcome…”

“Stuart Hoskins and this is my lovely wife-to-be Sarah Clarke”, Stuart said introducing himself and his bride.

“And a little one”, Samantha said nodding to Sarah’s baby bump “Boy or girl?

“I don't know”, Sarah said rubbing her stomach “I don't want to know, really”.

“Well congratulations either way”, Samantha said.

“Thank you”, Sarah said.

“So how did you two meet?” Samantha asked wanting to keep the couple’s minds occupied on something else other than the situation they were currently in.

“Outside the Big Box Club. Two in the morning”, Stuart replied. 

“Street corner. I'd lost my purse, didn't have money for a taxi”, Sarah added.

“I took her home”, Stuart finished.

“Then what?” Samantha asked “Asked her for a date?”

“Wrote his number on the back of my hand”, Sarah said laughing.

Stuart smiled “Never got rid of her since. My dad said…” he faltered, his smile falling.

“I don't know what this is all about” Sarah said tearfully “and I know we're not important”.

“Who said you’re not important?” Samantha said shocked that they’d think so little of themselves “You two…street corner. Two in the morning. Getting a taxi home. Sounds like a modern day fairy tale to me. I’m going to make sure that you get you’re happily ever after, that’s a promise”.

Samantha was surprised when they both hugged her but she hugged them back regardless.

She watched them walk away reassured by her words. She hated lying to them but she knew she couldn’t tell them the truth, couldn’t tell them that there was no way they were going to survive. So she was going to let them have this little glimmer of hope for the moment. Samantha took a breath and turned to check the rest of the doors. 

\-------------------------------

After talking to Pete, the Doctor left the vestry only to find Samantha sitting on a pew with baby Rose in her arms. “Jackie gave her to me to look after. Rather fitting considering I’m the big sister” Samantha looked down at the infant “It’s my job to look after you isn’t it Rosie?”

Baby Rose just looked up at her innocently.

Teenage Rose walked up to where they sat “I'd better be careful. I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken” she reached over to take her baby self from Samantha when the Doctor grabbed her hand.

“No. Don't touch the baby”, he pushed her hand away “You're both the same person. That's a paradox, and we don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in”

“Can't do anything right, can I?” Rose muttered.

“Since you ask, no. So, don't…touch…the…baby”, the Doctor said sounding to Samantha at least that he was talking to a dimwit.

Rose narrowed her eyes at him “I'm…not…stupid”

“You could have fooled me”, the Doctor retorted making Rose look away, hurt. After a moment the Doctor spoke up “All right, I'm sorry” Rose looked back at him “I wasn't really going to leave you on your own”, added in a softer tone.

Samantha put baby Rose back into her cot and stood up “I’m sorry too Rose. I shouldn’t have said what I said”, she said.

“It’s ok Sam. I know you were trying to tell me the consequences of my actions. I just didn’t want to listen. And I’m so sorry for slapping you, I promise I’ll never do that again” Rose pulled her sister into a hug. The blonde teen frowned when she felt something hot in Samantha’s jacket pocket. “Have you got something hot?” she asked pulling back.

Samantha reached into her pocket and took the key out of her pocket, which was glowing brightly. “It's the Tardis key!” the Doctor said happily taking it from her but unlike Samantha, he dropped it immediately. The Doctor took off his jacket and used it to safely pick up the burning key. “It's telling me it's still connected to the Tardis”.

The Doctor got up and hurried to the front on the church. He turned and faced the guests holding up the key. “The inside of my ship was thrown out of the wound but we can use this to bring it back. And once I've got my ship back, then I can mend everything”, the Doctor explained “Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?”

Stuart gave him the battery from his dad’s phone “Just need to do a bit of charging up…” the Doctor pressed sonic to the battery “and we can bring everyone back”.

Rose and Samantha watched as the Doctor slotted the key into thin air and the TARDIS started to materialize slowly “Right, no one touches that key. Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be, well, zap. Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here. All of us”

Sarah and Stuart looked around at Samantha both with smiles on their faces. Samantha returned their smile.

The Doctor then comes to sit beside Samantha, Rose and Pete on the pew behind them. “When time gets sorted out…” Rose said slowly.

“Everybody here forgets what happened”, the Doctor told her “And don't worry, the thing that you changed will stay changed”. 

“You mean I'll still be alive, though I'm meant to be dead” Rose just looks at him without speaking. Pete nodded realising that he wasn’t alive in the future “That's why I haven't done anything with my life, why I didn't mean anything”

“It doesn't work like that”, the Doctor said.

“Rubbish. I'm so useless I couldn't even die properly. Now it's my fault all of this has happened”, Pete said.

Rose placed a hand on Pete’s arm “This is my fault”, she said.

“No, love. I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault”

“Her dad? How are you her dad?” Jackie asked appearing next to them with baby Rose in her arms “How old were you, twelve? Oh, that's disgusting”.

Pete stands up “Jacks, listen. This is Rose”, he said. 

“Rose?” Jackie said both angry and upset at the thought that her daughter was given a second hand name “How sick is that? You give my daughter a second hand name? How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?”

“Oh, for God's sake, look. It's the same Rose!” Pete reached out and took the baby from her. He gave it to Rose and both the Doctor and Samantha jumped up to stop him knowing exactly what would happen.

“Rose! No!” they shouted but it was too late.

Samantha quickly snatched the baby away and gave her back to Jackie when a Reaper appeared in the middle of the church. Seeing the alien caused all the guests to go into a panic. “Everyone, behind me!” they hurried to do as he said. The Doctor strode forward and addressed the Reaper “I'm the oldest thing in here”, he said. 

As the Reaper dove for him, he was pushed out of the way. The Doctor fell to the floor and watched in shock as the Reaper took Samantha instead of him. Sam!” Rose cried as Samantha was consumed. The Reaper swooped around the church, ready to attack again when it collided with the semi-transparent TARDIS. It and the blue box vanished causing the key to fall to the floor.

The Doctor stayed where he was, staring at the spot Samantha had been taken, still in shock. Rose slowly turned and ran over to the fallen key which was now cold. “It's cold”, she breathed tears welling up in her eyes “The key's cold. Oh, my God, she's dead. Sammy’s dead. It’s all my fault….all of you…” Rose’s voice cracks as it the consequences of her actions finally hit her “The whole world….”

The Doctor finally managed to tear his gaze away from the empty spot where Samantha once was to look over at Rose. She met his eyes as a tear rolled down her face.

Pete looked between the two of them seeing how devastated they both were. Then it hit him, he knew what he had to do. What he should’ve done when he looked out the window and saw the beige car vanish before his eyes. The Doctor had tried to protect him from it. He had to die. It was the only way to save everyone.

He knew what he had to do. He went to the pew where his jacket lay and put it on. He then picked up the vase “what are you doing?” Rose asked as she saw him walk towards the doors holding the vase.

“That car should’ve killed me, love. All this is happening because I’m alive. So I have to make it right”

“But you can't”, Rose said her voice cracking.

“Who am I, love?” Pete asked.

“My daddy”, Rose answered shakily.

Jackie came over to them and looks at Rose with wide eyes “Jackie…look at her. She's ours”

The woman looked at Rose for a moment before the truth dawned on her “oh, god…” she said hugging her teenaged daughter.

“I'm meant to be dead, Jackie. You're going to get rid of me at last”, Pete said.

“Don't say that”, Jackie said trying to hold back tears.

“For once in your life, trust me. It's got be done” Pete said gently “You've got to survive, because you've got to bring up our daughter” he gestures to Rose before pulling Jackie in for one last kiss. He then turns to Rose “I never read you those bedtime stories. I never took you on those picnics. I was never there for you”

“You would have been”, Rose said crying.

“But I can do this for you. I can be a proper dad to you now”, Pete told Rose.  

“But it's not fair”, Rose said. 

Pete smiled “I've had all these extra hours. No one else in the world has ever had that. And on top of that, I got to see you. And you're beautiful” he placed a hand on Rose’s cheek as she sobbed silently.  “How lucky am I, eh? So, come on, do as your dad says. You going to be there for me, love?” Rose nodded “Thanks for saving me”

Pete pulls his wife and daughter in for a group hug before he ran out of the church. Rose stood in the doorway as the beige car hit her father. She hesitated for a moment before running out to hold his hand just like she had originally intended.

The Doctor stood in the doorway watching Rose say goodbye to her father. He was startled when he felt something taking his hand. He looked and found that it was Samantha. The Doctor stared as if he couldn’t believe she was there before pulling her into a tight hug.


	23. Origins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is slightly based on the AOS episode: S.E.E.DS. The mission to rescue Chan Ho Yin took place in AOS episode: girl in the flower dress. 
> 
> Also this line in the chapter Its a trap! : Though Coulson did make a joke about the Asgardian’s sending ‘the god of cleaning after yourself’ and them probably having a ‘magic broom’ is a reference to the AOS episode called The Well.

The moment the Doctor had taken the TARDIS into the Time Vortex, he took Sam to the med bay so he could run some tests. The young woman sat on the hospital bed while the Time Lord scanned her. “What’s wrong?” Samantha asked when the Doctor frowned at the results.

“Just need to double check something”, he replied and scanned her again.

“Doctor what is it?” Samantha asked seeing him frown again. He looked up from the tablet that displayed her results.

“The Time Vortex has bonded to your cells and attached itself to parts of your DNA”, he explained showing her the tablet “that’s how you’re able to survive with it inside for this long. How it got there, I don’t know”. _Maybe it was the mini obelisk after all_ the Doctor thought. However, he couldn’t know for sure as Samantha had told him that it had been destroyed, according to River that is.

“Am I still safe? I mean it’s not harming me in any way is it?” Samantha asked worried. She didn’t feel any different but that didn’t mean the Time Vortex wasn’t harming her.

“As far as I can tell you are perfectly safe”, the Doctor replied.

Samantha let out a sigh of relief at that “I’m glad I’m safe though it does bring up another question. How do I control it? I mean it seems like its defending me when I’m in danger which is really great and all but I don’t want it showing up every time”.

“I’m not sure how you can control it but I’d be willing to help you figure it out”, the Doctor said.

“Thank you”. Samantha was glad that the Doctor was willing to help her because if she had to be honest, she didn’t think she was able to handle it on her own. “As much as I’d like to start as soon as possible, I think I’m going to get some rest. In all honesty I’m still feeling a little battered from the mission to find Agent Coulson”.

The Doctor nodded in understanding “all right. Let me know when you want to start”

“I will”, Samantha promised.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning Samantha had just about pulled on her boots when her phone rang. It was Coulson. “Hey Coulson! What’s up?”

“Sam I need you to come here. There’s something I need to tell you, it’s rather important”, Coulson said.

“Ok. Where are you?” she asked. Coulson told her and the brunette promised to be there as soon as she can before hanging up. Samantha got up from her chair and left the bedroom, heading for the console room.

When she arrived, Rose was already there as was the Doctor. “Good timing Sammy I was about to come and get you. How does a trip to the eye of Orion sound?” the Time Lord asked.

“Sounds great but you’ll have to go without me” the Doctor’s smile dropped at that “Coulson just called, there was something important he needed to discuss with me”.

“That’s fine”, the Doctor said trying not to let his disappointment show. Truth be told he did miss her when she was off on her last mission. The little adventure he had with Rose while Samantha was off searching for Agent Coulson, was quite the same. It was no offence to Rose, she was good company but there was something about Samantha being present that made it seem better and more fun.

“Well we could pop to the eye of Orion after you’ve finished talking with Coulson”, Rose suggested “that way you don’t have to miss out”.

 _That’s actually a good idea_ the Doctor thought wondering why he didn’t even think of that. “That’s a good idea”, Samantha said agreeing with the Doctor’s thought.

“Yeah it is” the Doctor said “So where exactly am I going?” he asked a bit more of a cheerful tone. Samantha told him and soon they were on their way to the Bus.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Bus~

Samantha slid open the door to Coulson’s office. “Sam sit down please”, Coulson said gesturing to the sofa. She did so and Agent Coulson sat next to her “Agent May and I went down to Mexico City to talk to somebody. Somebody who knows where you and Skye came from”

“Tell me”

“When we started this, I warned you and Skye…that you might not like what you learn”, Coulson gently reminded her. It was after the mission to rescue Chan Ho Yin that Skye revealed she’d been looking for their parents for years. After all that time her search led her to two documents that were redacted by SHIELD. Coulson had promised them both that he’d look into it, and it seemed like he had kept his promise.

“And we’ve told you that it can’t be worse than what we have both imagined”. It was true, while at the orphanage she’d often imagined scenarios where it ended up with her at St Mathews. Some of those had been rather horrible, from a child’s imagination. Skye had told her that she’d done the exact same thing.

Coulson hesitated before speaking, he knew that what he was about to tell her was going break her heart but he knew that he couldn’t keep it a secret from her. Like Skye, she had the right to know. “It is” he said with a rather solemn look on his face “you remember the agent who dropped you off at St Mathews?”

“Karen Walker”, Samantha said.

“She wasn’t your mother. Neither was the agent who drop Skye off at St Agnes. But they were killed trying to protect you two…” 

_~flashback~_

_“They weren’t the first to die. We were headed into the Hunan Providence of China. A senior agent had called in two 0-8-4’s”_

_“An object of unknown origin” Coulson cut in, nodding “We’ve dealt with those before”_

_“He said the entire village had died trying to protect them. Grey, Walker and I were just fresh out of the Academy. And there were five of us just running the back end, until we lost communications with the first team”, Lumley explained “We went searching. We found the senior agent under a bridge. He – he managed to escape with a gunshot wound to the neck but he bled out. He was still holding on both 0-8-4’s” Lumley shook his head as he remembered that day “Poor things were covered in blood. We thought the girls were dead, too, but th – they were both asleep in the dead agent’s arms”._

_Coulson leans forward in his seat “The babies? They were the 0-8-4’s?_

_“If either of them had powers or something, we never witnessed it”_

_At that Coulson looked up to May as she glances down at him. They both looked back at Lumley as he spoke again “The five of us helicoptered the children off, headed home. After we landed, we started getting crossed off”_

_“Executed?”_

_“Tortured”, Lumley corrected “heads bashed in. And when it came down to Grey, Walker and I we realized the only way to keep our people and the children from being hunted –“_

_“Was to erase them from existence”, Coulson finished._

_Lumley nodded “Grey and Walker were smart. They used a lead agent’s credentials to fake a Level 8 clearance. Together they set up a nearly invisible protocol. Separate the children, send them off to different orphanages. The foster system was ordered to move the children around every few months”_

_“But they still got to Grey and Walker”_

_“They both died protecting that secret”_

_~end~_

Samantha stared at Coulson, tears running down her face. She’d started crying part way through his explanation. And who could blame her? It was far worse than what she’d imagined. Coulson placed a hand on her shoulder “I’m sorry Sam but I couldn’t keep this from you”

“I know” she sniffled “all those people…” Coulson put his arms around her as she cried harder.

Eventually Samantha managed to pull herself together enough so that she could leave the office. Skye walked over to her sister when she reached the bottom of the stairs and put her arms around her. A moment later Rose joined in, making it a group hug. The Doctor watched as Samantha buried her head on Skye’s shoulder and started to cry. His hearts ached at the sight of her crying. He hated to see her upset. Whatever Coulson had told her must’ve been really bad.

Quietly he slipped away, up the stairs to have a word with the agent. The Doctor didn’t bother knocking when he got to the sliding door of Coulson’s office, he just slid it back and walked in “Sam is in tears downstairs. What did you tell her?” he demanded.

“The truth about where she came from, why she and Skye were put in the orphanages”, Coulson replied getting up from his desk, moved around it and slid the door shut for privacy.

“Tell me”, the Doctor said leaning against the desk, folding his arms. Coulson nodded and told the Time Lord exactly what he told the twins. As the man spoke, the Doctor felt himself get angrier with the agent. Just hearing how the sisters where responsible for that much death…it was no wonder Samantha was in such a state. He would be the same way in her position. It did also raise another question. “Didn’t you think about how Skye and Sam would react to hearing all that before you told them?” the Doctor asked when Coulson had finished.

“I did” Coulson sighed “but I couldn’t keep this from them. They had the right to know especially since Skye has been searching her whole life for any information about her past, about her family”.

“They may have had the right to know but you still didn’t have to tell them everything”, the Doctor told him.

“I’m afraid I did. If I kept some of it back and they found out later, it would’ve been worse”, Coulson said. The Doctor had to agree that he did have a point there, it would be a whole lot worse if the girls discovered at a later date that the agent had withheld information from them.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~SHIELD Academy~

Skye and Samantha wandered along the Wall of Valour looking for the names of the SHIELD Agents that had dropped them off. After Samantha had calmed down enough, Skye requested that they both have a little time with the Wall of Valour at the Academy, to pay their respects to those who’d died keeping them safe. Samantha stopped when she found Karen Walker’s name. She reached out and touched one finger to the name, looking at it sadly. _I’m so sorry Karen_ she thought _I won’t forget you, I promise._ Despite how awful she felt about all those people that had died protecting herself and Skye, Samantha felt a sense of closure as she stood in front of the Wall of Valour. For years she had no idea as to why she’d been sent to the orphanage but now she knew. She also knew why the 2 foster homes had sent her back. It wasn’t because they didn’t want her, it was SHIELD looking out for her, protecting her. While she was grateful at the knowledge that SHIELD had been looking out for not only herself but Skye as well, she was very glad that they didn’t step in when Jackie decided to adopt her. _They must’ve known she was going to be a good mother for me_ she thought _or they figured I was going to be safe enough with the Tylers._  

Skye stopped by Linda Grey’s name, reaching out to touch it just like Samantha did. Her whole life she’d believed that she wasn’t wanted, that she didn’t belong. That every family that had taken her in didn’t want her to stay. But she was so wrong, she did have a family looking after her, protecting her. And that family was SHEILD. 

Now they knew the truth, there was no more wondering how or why. No more searching. No more imagining. No more looking back, only forward. 

~TARDIS: a day later~

The Doctor walked into the console room and was surprised to see Samantha sitting on the captain’s chair. “I thought you’d be with your mother and Rose”, he said coming over.

“I just needed a breather”, Samantha said “I’m still processing everything”.

“Did you want me to….” He gestured towards the corridor that would lead to the rest of the ship. Samantha shook her head.

“No, you can stay”, she said. The Doctor sat down on the captain’s chair next to her and she rested her head on his shoulder. “Sorry”, Samantha said moving her head when she started to sniffle “it’s just…so many died”.

“I know”, the Doctor said gently “it’ll get easier with time, I promise”.

“Really?” Samantha hiccupped looking at him.

“Really”, the Doctor said wiping her tears away with his thumb. Suddenly Samantha’s phone rang making them both jump. The brunette fumbled in her pocket for her phone and pulled it out. Samantha frowned at the number, she didn’t recognise it.

“Hello?” she said answering it.

“Hello Miss Tyler, I’m Maxwell. I work for Mr Weyland”, Samantha rolled her eyes and began to pull the phone away from her ear when Maxwell spoke again, rather quickly “before you hang up there’s something we need to discuss”.

Samantha snorted “what do I have to discuss with the some flunkie from Weyland Industries?” she asked.

“Your skills as an archaeologist. They’re quite good so I’ve heard”, Maxwell said.

“Don’t bother with flattery, just say whatever it is you want to say”, Samantha said “I’ve got far more important things to do then have a chat with you”.

“Since you want to get straight to the point, we need your help. We need your skills on an expedition to the Antarctic”, Maxwell explained “you will be well paid for your services”.

“Money doesn’t interest me”, Samantha said.

“Regardless, the money will be transferred to your account at the end of the expedition to do with what you wish”, Maxwell told her.

“Fine”, Samantha grumbled “can you tell me a bit more about this expedition?”

“You’ll find out if you attend the meeting”, Maxwell replied. Samantha took the phone away from her ear and made a face which the Doctor thought was highly amusing. She put the phone back to her ear.

“Ok, I’ll go”, Samantha said.

“Excellent”, Maxwell said. Samantha could literally hear the happy tone through her mobile.

“Where is this meeting?” she asked. Samantha listened as Maxwell told her when and where it was taking place before he hung up.

“What was that about?” the Doctor asked.

“I’ve just been enlisted to help with a mystery expedition”, Samantha replied.

“Well, don’t think for one second I’m going to let you go alone”, the Doctor said “I’ll stay with you throughout the whole thing”.

Samantha smiled at him, grateful “Thanks”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Aliens vs Predator book: A Deadly Detour fits in here. Best to read or give it a quick skim before you continue otherwise there'll be some confusion.


	24. After Antarctica

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter picks up right after Deadly Detour finishes.

Samantha sat on the edge of the TARDIS, legs dangling as she looked out at the stars. After everything they’d been through in Antarctica, she needed a few days to absorb it all. Plus she needed to get used to her new mark AND not to mention the change in the relationship between herself and the Doctor.

Speaking of…

“Hi Doctor”, Samantha said hearing the Time Lord approach.

“Hey”, the Time Lord said sitting down next to her.

“Don’t think I’ll ever get used to a view like that”, Samantha remarked nodding to the stars.

“I’m still not used to it myself”, the Doctor said.

“Really?” Samantha asked “even after all this time?”

“Yep. Even after all this time”, he agreed. The pair sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Samantha spoke up again.

“Did you mean it? What you said, I mean. That you um…love me”

“Yes, I do mean it”, the Doctor replied “why do you ask?”

 “I dunno. I just…didn’t know if you meant it or if it was an adrenaline rush or because you thought I died or mph!” Samantha was abruptly cut off from her ramble when the Doctor kissed her.

“I do mean it Sammy”, he said softly “I just wish it didn’t take me almost losing you to realise it”.

Samantha could hear the sincerity in his voice and in the expression on his face…was one of love. Now she felt stupid for asking him if he meant it. “I’m sorry for asking Doctor. With everything that happened in the Pyramid I…I just had to ask”.

“Its ok Sam”, the Doctor said “I’d do the same if I was you”.

Samantha turned her gaze to the stars “You know, I actually started to have feelings towards you which is strange”, she said.

“How so?” the Doctor asked, hoping she wasn’t regretting the kiss…his feelings…everything.

“It never really occurred to me that this would happen. I mean, I wasn’t looking for a relationship”, Samantha explained.

“Oh…” the Doctor looked down, his hearts sinking at her words.

“But I don’t regret it”, Samantha continued making the Doctor look up at her, hopeful.

“Really?” the Doctor asked.

“Really”, Samantha confirmed. She gave him a quick kiss “no regrets at all”.

The Doctor grinned “fantastic”, he said before pulling her in for a longer kiss.

\---------------

“Mum! Rosie! We’re back!” Samantha called as she and the Doctor stepped through the front door of the Tyler flat.

“Sammy!” Jackie exclaimed hurrying out into the hall. The moment she saw her adoptive daughter, she ran over to her and gave her a massive hug. When she stepped back, Jackie noticed the mark on Samantha’s cheek. “Sweetheart, what it that?” Jackie asked pointing to it.

Samantha touched the warrior’s mark “oh, its nothing”, she said.

“Doesn’t look like nothing”, Jackie said. She glanced behind Samantha at the Doctor “Did you have something to do with this?”

“No, he didn’t”, Samantha quickly answered.

“I wanna hear it from him thank you”, Jackie said, giving the Doctor a small glare.

“Sam’s right, I didn’t have anything to do with it”, the Time Lord assured the older Tyler.

“Well, forgive me if I don’t believe ya”, Jackie shot back.

“How about we all sit down and we can tell you where we’ve been and how I got the mark?” Samantha suggested.

“Yeah…good idea”, the Doctor agreed. Jackie, the Doctor and Samantha walked into the living room and settled down onto the sofa/armchairs.

“Where’s Rose?” Samantha asked having not seen her sister yet.

“She’s out with Mickey at the moment”, Jackie replied “now, where did you two go and how did you get that mark?” she asked.

“Well, it started when I got a call from this guy. They needed my expertise on this archaeological dig in Antarctica…”

Jackie’s expression grew more and more worried as Samantha went on with her story, the Doctor occasionally chipping in. “Ok, that’s it. I don’t want to you be travelling with him any more”, Jackie declared, standing up.

“What? Why?” Samantha asked standing up as well, the Doctor joining her.

“Why?” Jackie repeated “because you almost died. Again. Not to mention you’re now an honorary yukata warrior…”

“Yautja”, Samantha and the Doctor corrected.

“Whatever. The point is, its far too dangerous”, Jackie stated.

“So’s being a SHIELD agent”, Samantha countered “and you were fine with that when I told you”.

“That’s different. You have a whole team watching your back at SHEILD”, Jackie said “when you’re travelling you’re only with _him_. And he was hardly able to keep you safe”.

“That’s not fair mum”, Samantha argued “the situation at the Pyramid was out of the Doctor’s hands”.

“Regardless. I still don’t want you travelling with the Doctor anymore”, Jackie said, firm in her resolve.

“Mum, I’m not a child anymore. And I won’t give up travelling. I know its dangerous and I don’t care. I can take care of myself”, Samantha said not about to let her adoptive mother win. She couldn’t give up travelling with the Doctor. There was still so much to see, so much to do.

“Then give a damn good reason why I should even consider letting you continue travelling with the Doctor”, Jackie all but demanded. Samantha glanced at the Doctor before she took his hand.

“We’re together”, Samantha said.

Jackie looked at their linked hands then to the pair. “Is this a joke?” she asked, in disbelief “because its not funny”.

“Its not a joke mum”, Samantha assured her.

“I know you don’t like me very much Jackie…” the Doctor started.

“That’s a bloody understatement”, Jackie scoffed “you brought Rose home at the wrong time and you almost got Sammy here killed”.

“Mum, I told you it wasn’t his fault”, Samantha insisted “and I’ve given you a very good reason why I’m gonna keep travelling with the Doctor”.

Jackie looked between the two of them, still in disbelief. She needed to talk to Samantha in private to see if she wasn’t just saying that so she could carry on travelling through time and space with the Doctor. “Sweetheart, can I talk to you for a sec?” Jackie asked.

“Sure”, Samantha replied. She and Jackie went into the kitchen, closing the door.

“Sammy, are you two really together now?” Jackie asked “you’re not just saying that so you can keep travelling”.

“No, I’m not just saying that”, Samantha said “I really like him mum. More than like, actually. Why can’t you be happy for me?”

“I am happy Sammy”, Jackie said “but the Doctor? Seriously? Why couldn’t you have fallen for a nice, normal boy?”

“I guess ‘nice and normal’ aren’t my type”, Samantha replied with a smile “mum, the Doctor is a decent enough guy. And he wouldn’t hurt me. If he did, I’d kick his ass”.

Jackie let out a laugh “that’s my girl”, she said putting an arm around her adoptive daughter, hugging her.


	25. World War Two

“This is so weird”, Rose remarked watching the Doctor do some repairs on the TARDIS, Samantha passing him the parts when he needed them. Occasionally they’d share this look…a loving one.

“What is?” Samantha asked straightening up to look at her sister.

“You two…together”, Rose shook her head “I still can’t believe it”.

“You’re not the only one. Mum couldn’t believe it either”, Samantha said.

“At least she didn’t slap me for it”, the Doctor put in.

“That’s very true, thankfully she didn’t do that”, Samantha agreed. The Doctor turned back to his repairs on the console.

“Right, we are done!” he cheered a few minutes later.

“Cool”, Samantha said “so where are we headed next? Somewhere warm I hope. I’ve had enough cold to last me a good few years”.

“The Eye of Orion is rather warm and it’s a pleasant place to go”, the Doctor replied “plus there is no danger whatsoever”.

Samantha raised her eyebrows “really? No danger”, she said not quite sure if she should believe him.

“I promise you Sammy there isn’t any danger there. Given what you’ve just gone through, peace and quiet is just what you need”, the Doctor said.

“So while I’m enjoying the peace and quiet, what are you gonna be doing?” Samantha questioned.

“I’ll be enjoying it too”, the Doctor answered.

“You enjoying peace and quiet?” Rose scoffed “that’s about as believable as the pair of you being an…item”.

“I can do”, the Doctor insisted “in fact, I’m gonna prove it” and with that he pulled a lever sending the TARDIS into the time vortex. Suddenly an alarm started to blare and lights flashed on the console.

“What is that?” Rose asked as the ship started to shake more violently than before.

“It's mauve”, the Doctor replied rushing over to the scanner as the TARDIS shook around them. There was a strange cylinder object on the screen. It shouldn’t have been possible for anything else to travel through the time vortex and yet here it was.

“Mauve?” Samantha asked.

“The universally recognised colour for danger”, the Time Lord answered as he typed on the screen.

“What happened to red?” Rose asked with a frown, usually the colour red was the colour for danger.

“That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing” the Doctor gestured to the monitor which showed him the object they were now chasing “It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go”.

“And that's safe, is it?” Samantha questioned getting the feeling that it wasn’t.

“Totally”, the Doctor lied. Suddenly part of the console exploded and the sisters glared at him. “Okay, reasonably” he quickly amended “Should have said reasonably there”.

“You don’t say”, Samantha said sarcastically.

“No, no, no, no!” the Doctor shouted “It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us”.  

“What exactly is this thing?” Rose asked as the Doctor frantically worked at the console to keep up with the object.

“No idea”, he replied.

“So then why are we chasing it?” Samantha asked.

“It's mauve and dangerous, and about thirty seconds from the centre of London”, the Doctor replied.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?” the Doctor asked as he stepped out of the TARDIS after landing it on Earth.

“Five days?” Rose guessed stepping out after him with her sister “Or is that just when we're out of milk?”

“Of all the species in all the Universe and it has to come out of a cow”, the Doctor remarked. The trio started to walk down the alley, unaware that they were being watched from above. “Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month”, he said.

“A month?” Rose asked in surprise “We were right behind it!”

“It was jumping time tracks all over the place”, the Doctor told her “We're bound to be a little bit out. Do either of you want to drive?”

“We’d probably be better at it than you. And we’d make sure to bring our companions back at the right time and not 12 months later”, Samantha said.

“I thought you’d forgiven me for that already?” the Doctor asked.

“I have”, Samantha replied “Doesn’t mean I won’t bring it up from time to time”.

“How much is a little?” Rose asked getting back to the current situation.

“A bit”, the Doctor said vaguely.

“Is that _exactly_ a bit?” Samantha asked.

“Ish”, the Doctor replied equally as vague as before.

“What's the plan, then? Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something?” Rose asked wondering what he was going to do.

“Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask” the Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and showing it to the sisters.

“’Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids’” Rose read aloud.

“It's psychic paper. It tells you…”

“Whatever you want it to”, Samantha cut in “I remember”.

“Same here”, Rose agreed.

“Sorry”, the Doctor apologised.

“Not very Spock, is it, just asking”, Rose commented as they reached a door marked ‘Deliveries only’.

“Door, music, people. What do you think?” the Doctor asked getting out his sonic.

“I think you should do a scan for alien tech. Give me some Spock, for once”, Rose repeated. The Doctor just ignored her and started sonicing the lock. “Sammy? You agree with me don’t you?” she asked looking for some support from her sister. 

“Oh no I’m not getting involved”, Samantha said putting her hands up, earning a grumpy look from Rose. When the Doctor finally got the door open he looked at Roses’ shirt.

“Are you sure about that t-shirt?” he asked.

“Too early to say. I'm taking it out for a spin”, Rose replied looking down at it. The Doctor entered the building and the sisters were about to follow when they heard an eerie voice call out.

“Muuuu-mmy?”

Rose and Samantha exchanged looks. “You heard that, right Sam?”

“Yeah I did”, Samantha replied. When the voice called out again Rose suggested that they go look for the source. “Before we do that I need to get my ICER from the TARDIS”, Samantha said.

“You really think you’ll need it?” Rose asked as they walked back to the TARDIS.

“Can’t be too careful”, Samantha replied. She took out her key from her pocket and unlocked the blue box “you coming?” she asked Rose when the blonde didn’t follow her in.

 “Nah, I’ll wait here”, Rose said.

“Ok. I’ll be back in a minute”, Samantha said and closed the TARDIS door. She ran to her room, picked up the holster on her bed and strapped it to her leg. She then picked up the ICER and slid it into the holster. Once Samantha sure it was secure, she left her room. When she passed the scanner on the console, it flickered to life and beeped at her. Surprised, Samantha turned to the screen wondering why it suddenly turned on. “Oh my god”, she breathed, eyes wide as she stared at what was on the screen. She turned and ran down the ramp. She had to warn Rose and the Doctor they were in World War Two!

Samantha yanked open the TARDIS’ door “Rose there’s something-“ she broke off when she didn’t see her sister standing there. “Rose?” she called but got now answer. Frowning, she checked behind the TARDIS thinking that her sister might’ve decided to hide there and jump out, giving her a scare. But she wasn’t there. _The Doctor isn’t going to be happy about this_ she thought as she hurried down the alley to the building the Time Lord had entered minutes ago.

Samantha found the alien standing on stage, the people laughing at something he must’ve said.

“Sorry, have I said something funny?” the Doctor asked confused. Samantha made her way to the stage as he added “It's just, there's this thing that I need to find”.

Samantha grabbed his arm “sorry about him ladies and gentlemen, he’s had a little bit too much to drink. Enjoy your evening!” and with that she dragged a protesting Time Lord out of the drinking den.

“What did you do that for?” the Doctor asked pulling his arm out of her grip.

“Two very simple reasons. One: we’re in World War Two. Two: my sister is missing”, Samantha replied. The Doctor stared at her as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Being in World War Two he could understand. With his track record it was very likely that he was going to end up somewhere in that era. But Rose going missing? That was something he couldn’t quite understand. How could she have gone missing? Did she just wander off? Or did something happen? Whatever the case was, Samantha wasn’t around when it happened. 

“What do mean Rose is missing?” he asked, needing more information.

Samantha quickly explained to him about hearing this voice and Rose wanting to go find the source of it. “…I didn’t want to go looking for the owner of that rather eerie sounding voice without my ICER. So we went back to the TARDIS where Rose chose to stay outside. I couldn’t have been in there for more than 5 minutes but when I came out she was gone!”

“It’s ok Sam. We’ll find her”, the Doctor assured her seeing the brunette get a little worked up over the fact that Rose was missing.

“How can you be so calm? Rose is missing! And in case you’ve forgotten we’re in the middle of World War Two!” Samantha said raising her voice.

The Doctor reached out and gently grasped her upper arms “Sammy we _will_ find her”, he repeated “I promise”.

“Ok”, Samantha said feeling much calmer “how are we going to find her?”

“We use the TARDIS to track Rose’s phone”, the Doctor replied.

“You can do that?” Samantha asked as the Doctor took her hand, leading her back to the TARDIS. The Doctor was about to answer when the police box’s phone started to ring.

He opened the compartment behind the panel of writing and looked at the phone confused “How can you be ringing?” he asked and Samantha looked at him wondering how he could be so confused over a ringing phone.

“Well it’s a phone, it supposed to be ringing”, Samantha pointed out.

“You don’t understand Sammy, this phone isn’t connected”, the Doctor told her “it’s just part of the TARDIS’s disguise”.

Samantha’s eyes widened a little at that piece of information “that’s why you’re confused. Because it’s impossible for a fake phone to be ringing”, she said.

“Precisely” the Doctor got his sonic out of his pocket and was about to use it on the phone when a young female voice spoke behind them.

“Don't answer it. It's not for you”

The Doctor and Samantha turned around to see a young woman, Nancy, standing there in a dark thick coat. “And how do you know that?” the Doctor asked

“'Cos I do. And I'm tellin’ ya, don't answer it”, Nancy said again.

“Well, if you know so much, tell me this. How can it be ringing?” the Doctor turned back to the phone “It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not…” he broke off when Samantha tapped his shoulder.

“Uh Doctor? She’s gone”, she said. Nancy had slipped away when the Doctor was talking. As Nancy was gone, the Doctor turned to Samantha. 

“Do you think I should answer it?” he asked.

“That young woman told you not to”, Samantha replied.

“I know but do _you_ think I should?”

“Answering a phone that shouldn’t be ringing, but somehow is? Yeah I’d answer it”, Samantha said although there was a small part of her that didn’t want him to answer the phone.

The Doctor picked up the receiver and held it between them so they both could hear. “Hello?” he said. There was nothing but except crackling on the other end. So the Doctor tried again “This is the Doctor speaking” more crackling “How may I help you?”

“Mummy?” a little boy’s voice called.

“Who is this? Who's speaking?” Samantha asked.

“Are you my mummy?” the child asked.

“Sorry but we’re not your mummy”, Samantha said apologetically.

 “Who is this?” the Doctor questioned.

“Mummy?” the boy asked again.

“How did you ring here? This isn't a real phone. It's not wired up to anything, it…” the Doctor was cut off by the boy asking once again

“Mummy?”

The line then went dead. The Doctor and Samantha exchanged puzzled looks. _Ok that was weird_ the brunette thought placing the phone back into the cradle before closed the door.

Suddenly there was a crashing sound behind the pair. Samantha and the Doctor ran, following the sound out of the alley.


	26. Dining in the Blitz

When they reached the street they heard a woman speak. “The planes are coming. Can't you hear them? Into the shelter. None of your nonsense, now move it!” the Doctor and Samantha climbed onto a couple of dustbins to look over the garden wall where the woman was talking. She was ushering a boy into an air raid shelter. The woman turned back to the house “Arthur! Arthur, Will you hurry up? Didn't you hear the siren?” she called.

A large man exits the house “Middle of dinner, every night. Blooming Germans” he grumbled. “Don't you eat?” he shouted at the sky. The Doctor found that rather amusing.

“I think he should at least be thanking them”, Samantha commented “the guy is seriously overweight”. The Doctor smirked, rather amused. The second the family had gone in the shelter, Nancy creeped out from behind the shelter and slipped inside the house.

“Fancy a dinner in the Blitz Sammy?” the Doctor asked.  

“It’ll be a new experience”, Samantha replied “just wish Rose was here to be a part of it”. She really wished she had her phone on her but it was currently charging back in the TARDIS.

“We will find her Sam. and who knows? That young woman might’ve seen her”, the Doctor said.

The Time travellers entered the house via the back door and hung back as several children entered through the front door. The Doctor sat at the table with the children and the young woman who’d spoken to them before. Samantha stood behind his chair staying as quiet as she could as everyone else chatted away, completely oblivious to the two adults in the room. That is until the Doctor spoke up after taking two slices of meat.

“It's all right! Everybody stay where you are!” Nancy said to the children who were startled by the presence of Samantha and the Doctor. 

“Good here, innit? Who's got the salt?” the Doctor said grinning at them. Samantha also gave them a small smile.

“So, you lot, what's the story?” he asked helping himself to some sauce.

“What do you mean?” the boy called Ernie asked.

“You're homeless, right? Living rough?” the Doctor questioned.

“Why do you want to know that? Are you a copper?” Jim asked.

“Of course I'm not a copper. Sam isn’t one either. What's a copper going to do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?” the children laughed at his question, the tension in the room now broken.

“Why aren’t you guys in the country? You should’ve all been evacuated by now”, Samantha asked reaching over and taking one of the Doctor’s slices of meat.

“Oi!”

“Rationing. You’re only supposed to have one”, Samantha told him before she ate the slice of meat. As the Doctor still looked put out at what she did, Samantha gave him a kiss on the cheek. That made him brighten up immediately.

“I was evacuated. Sent me to a farm”, Alf spoke up, answering Samantha’s question.

“So why'd you come back?” Samantha asked.

“There was a man there”, Alf replied quietly. Samantha could tell by his body language that whomever this man was, didn’t treat Alf very well.

“Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago”, Jim said. 

“It's better on the streets anyway. Its better food”, Ernie spoke up.

“Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us”, Jim agreed.

“So, that's what you do, is it, Nancy?” the Doctor asked the young woman.

“What is?” Nancy asked.

“As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town” the Doctor replied “Puddings for all! As long as the bombs don't get you”

“Something wrong with that?” Nancy asked.

“Wrong with it? It's brilliant. I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical”, the Doctor said with a grin.

The children looked at him confused. “Why'd you two follow me? What do you want?” Nancy demanded.

“I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask”, the Doctor said.

“I did you a favour. I told you both not to answer it, that's all I'm telling ya”, Nancy said.

“Great, thanks”, the Doctor said not really happy with her answer. He’d been hoping for something a little less vague.

“Nancy, you wouldn’t have happened to see my sister around have you? She’s about this high” Samantha indicated Rose’s rough height with her hand “blonde hair and is wearing a union jack t-shirt”.

“Nope haven’t seen her”, Nancy replied standing up, taking the Doctor’s plate away “anything else before you two leave?”

“Yeah there is actually. We’ve been looking for something that would’ve fallen out of the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb” the Doctor took out a notebook from his pocket “It would’ve fallen out of the sky about a month ago. It wouldn’t have exploded like a bomb, just buried itself in the ground somewhere. And it would’ve looked something like…” the Doctor quickly sketches the object he’d been chasing through the time vortex “this”.

He shows them the drawing. Nancy looked at it intently but didn’t say anything. Suddenly there was a knock at the window. The Doctor and Samantha went over to the window, the young brunette pulled back the curtain to reveal a child wearing a gas mask.

“Mummy?” he called knocking on the glass “Are you in there, mummy?” 

“Who was the last one in?” Nancy asked urgently.

“They were”, Ernie said pointing at Samantha and the Doctor.

“No, they came round the back”, Nancy said “Who came in the front?”

“Me”, Alf said quietly.

“Did you close the door?” Nancy asked.

When Alf hesitated, Nancy asked again “Did you close the door?” she didn’t even wait to get a reply, she just rushed out into the hallway and bolted the door.

“Mummy?” the child called through the front door.

“What's this, then? It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know”, the Doctor said joining her out in the hallway with Samantha.

“It's not exactly a child”, Nancy informed them.

Samantha frowned wondering what Nancy meant by that. She felt sorry for the boy, he must be so scared being out there on his own. Both time travellers watched as the children hurried out into the hall and out the back.

“Mummy?” the boy called again. Samantha took several steps towards the front door. “Please let me in, mummy”, the child begged. A little hand with a scar on it poked through the letter box.

“Are you all right?” the Doctor asked standing beside Samantha.

“Please let me in”, the boy repeated. Samantha reached out but before she could touch his hand, an object goes sailing past and shattered against the door. The child’s hand withdraws from the letter box. 

“You mustn't let him touch ya!” Nancy warned.

“What happens if he touches her?” the Doctor asked tugging Samantha behind him to put some distance between her and the boy.

“He'll make her like him”, Nancy replied.

“And what's he like?” Samantha queried.

“I've got to go”, Nancy said not really wanting to spend another moment longer in the house.

“Nancy, what's he like?” the Doctor asked repeating Samantha’s question.

After a moment’s hesitation, Nancy answered “He's empty”. The telephone rings “It's him. He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box you saw” the Doctor picked up the phone.

“Are you my mummy?” the trio head the child say. Nancy snatched the receiver and slammed it back down. Radio started to play in the dining room, the child calling through it for his mum. A clockwork monkey also started up, the child’s voice also coming from it as well. Samantha looked at the shadow of the boy by the front door. _How can an ordinary child speak through all those things?_ She thought confused. Nancy left the house not wanting to stay there a moment longer.

“Doctor”, Samantha called seeing the boy stick his hand through the letter box.

“Mummy? Let me in please, mummy. Please let me in”, he pleaded.

“Your mummy isn't here”, Samantha said torn between staying where she was and going to the door. On one hand there was Nancy’s warning and on the other there was a scared little boy outside.

“Are you my mummy?” the boy asked again.

“No mummies here”, the Doctor said when he joined Samantha “Nobody here but us chickens”, he glanced back as the deserted house “Well, two chickens” he corrected.

“I'm scared”

“Why are those other children frightened of you?” the Doctor asked.

“Please let me in, mummy” the boy pleaded again “I'm scared of the bombs”.

“Should I open the door?” the Doctor asked Samantha. He wanted because he left sorry for the boy but he also didn’t want to if it turned out the Nancy was right and he was dangerous.

“Yes. If the boy turns out to be dangerous, we can always run. I doubt he’d be able to catch either of us, he just a kid”, Samantha replied.

“Okay. I'm opening the door now”

The boy pulls his hand back and the Doctor draws back the bolts. When he opened the door, the boy was gone. The Doctor and Samantha walked down the path looking up and down the deserted street. There was no sign of the child. “I take that back. He’s very fast”, Samantha said. 

“We need to find Nancy. If anyone’s going to have answers, it’s her”, the Doctor said and Samantha nodded in agreement.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nancy was startled when she turned around to see the Doctor and Samantha standing in the doorway of the outer house she’d just entered. “How'd you follow me here?” she asked.

“I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it”, the Doctor said, sounding rather proud at that.

“People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to”, Nancy said looking at both of them suspiciously.

“My nose has special powers”, the Doctor explained making Samantha smile.

“Yeah? That's why it's uh…” Nancy trailed off, not able to finish that sentence without cracking up.

“What?” the Doctor asked wondering why she just trailed off.

“Nothing”, Nancy said trying really hard not to laugh.

“What?” the Doctor asked again.

“Nothing!” Nancy grinned “Do your ears have special powers too?” she asked teasingly.

“What are you trying to say?” the Doctor asked calmly as Samantha burst out laughing. She was aware that his ears were a bit big but that didn’t really bother her that much. She didn’t even find them funny until Nancy asked her question about them having magic powers.

“Sorry Doctor”, Samantha said when she’d finally calmed down.

“Goodnight, Mister”, Nancy said turning away. Her teasing had put a smile on her face as well as making Samantha laugh.

“Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right?” Nancy turned back to the pair “The thing I'm looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?”

“There was a bomb. A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station”, Nancy replied.

“Take us there”, the Doctor ordered.

“There's soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through”, Nancy told them.

“Won’t stop us”, Samantha said confidently. Thanks to Ward’s training, she knew how to get in and out of places undetected. And if she did get caught, she knew enough to be able to fight her way out.

“You sure you want to know what's going on in there?” Nancy asked both of them.

“I really want to know”, the Doctor replied.

“Same here”, Samantha added.

“Then there's someone you need to talk to first”

“And who might that be?” the Doctor asked.

“The Doctor”, Nancy replied. She turns away, missing the confused look the Doctor’s face.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even after Nancy showed them where the bomb was, she still insisted that they go see the Doctor first. When Samantha asked why, Nancy replied with “Cos then maybe you won’t wanna get inside”.

“Where're you going?” the Doctor asked as she started to head back up the steps.

“There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed. Should be safe enough now”, Nancy replied.

“Can I ask you a question? Who did you lose?” he asked, turning to face her.

“What?”

“The way you look after all those kids. It's because you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it”, the Doctor said having worked all that out while they were in the house.

“My little brother. Jamie. One night I went out looking for food” Nancy explained “Same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me, I told him it was dangerous, but he just. He just didn't like being on his own”

“I’m so sorry Nancy”, Samantha said sincerely. She didn’t know what is was like to lose a loved one, having not experienced herself but she knew how much it hurt because she’d seen the way Jackie was whenever she spoke about her husband.

“Amazing”, the Doctor remarked.

“What is?” Nany asked confused.

“1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe” the Doctor explained “Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says ‘no’. No. Not here”.

“Kinda like a mouse in front of a lion”, Samantha added.

“Exactly”, the Doctor agreed “You're amazing, the lot of you” he looked between Samantha and Nancy, a proud look on his face “Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then…do what you've got to do. Save the world”.

Feeling slightly better by the Doctor’s words, Nancy turned and walked away. “So you think we’re amazing now, huh?” Samantha asked as she and the Doctor walked down the steps “because the last time I checked, you called us stupid apes”.

“Sammy I _was_ angry at the time and I’ll admit that sometimes for a reasonably smart race, you humans do some very dumb things”, the Doctor said “but sometimes you do amazing things too like sending people to the moon or…”

“Or standing up against the country who seemingly wants to take over the world?” Samantha said giving him a smirk.

“Definitely. That _is_ amazing”, the Doctor agreed. When they reached the gate, the Doctor got out his sonic and used it on the padlock. Samantha pulled out her ICER and held it at the ready. The Doctor pulled open the gate and they entered the abandoned hospital.


	27. Jack Harkness

The pair walked through a darkened ward where rows and rows of patents lay on beds, completely lifeless and still wearing gas masks. “This is really strange”, Samantha remarked as they passed, her ICER still at the ready. The Doctor nodded in agreement, it was rather strange. They entered yet another ward, unlike the previous one it was dimly lit. It too had numerous people on beds wearing gasmasks. The Doctor and Samantha turned when they heard a noise behind them. An older man wearing a white doctor’s coat had entered the ward. Upon seeing him, Samantha lowered her ICER but didn’t put it away in case there was a chance he wasn’t a ‘friendly’.

“You'll find them everywhere. In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them”, the man said.

“Yes, I saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?” the Doctor asked.

“They're not”, the man corrected him. Samantha frowned at that _what does he mean they’re not wearing gas masks? I can clearly see they are_ she thought. “Who are you two?” the elderly man asked.

“We’re uh…”

“Are you the doctor?” Samantha cut in before the Doctor could tell him who they were.

“Doctor Constantine”, the man replied “And you are?”

“Nancy sent us”, Samantha answered.

Dr Constantine’s eyes widened at her answer “Nancy? That means you must've been asking about the bomb”

“Yes”, the Doctor said.

“What do you know about it?” Constantine asked walking slowly over to a chair, leaning heavily on his cane as he did so.

“Nothing. Why we was asking” the Doctor replied “What do you know?”

“Only what it's done”, Constantine said vaguely.

“These people, they were all caught up in the blast?” the Doctor asked looking at the patients.

“None of them were” Doctor Constantine laughs slightly but it turns into a nasty cough. He sits down at the chair.

“You're very sick”, Samantha commented putting her ICER away. There was no way that an elderly sick man was a threat to them.

“Dying, I should think” Constantine corrected her “I just haven't been able to find the time. Are either of you a doctor?”

“I have my moments”, the Doctor replied. Doctor Constantine then told him to examine any one of the patients warning him not to touch the flesh. The Doctor went to a random patient and scanned him with his sonic. 

“Conclusions?” Doctor Constantine asked.

“Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side…” the Doctor ran his screwdriver over the patient’s chest “Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns”

“Examine another one”, Doctor Constantine instructed and the Doctor did so. He found that the other patient had the same symptoms, gasmask fused to the face and a scar on the back of the hand. The Doctor turns his screwdriver off and turned to Doctor Constantine.

“This isn't possible” the Time Lord goes to another bed and the results are the same. “They've all got the same injuries”, he said thoroughly confused.

Doctor Constantine nodded “Yes”

The Doctor rushed over to another patient and got the same results yet again “Exactly the same”, he said still very confused. How was that even possible?

“Yes”

“Identical, all of them” the Doctor continued “right down to the scar on the back of the hand”.

“How did this happen? How did it start?” Samantha asked after quickly looking at one of the patients, noting that the scar was the exact same one as the little boy had.

“When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim”, Constantine said.

“Dead?” the Doctor asked.

“At first” Constantine replied “His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries”. _Blimey whatever that thing is, it works fast_ Samantha thought _FitzSimmons would have a field day with this_ “By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?” 

“The head trauma”, the Doctor guessed.

“No”, Constantine shook his head.

“Asphyxiation”, the Doctor said trying again.

“No”

“The collapse of the chest cavity…”

“No”

“All right. What was the cause of death?” the Doctor asked. He’d just listed off all the things that these people had but Constantine still told him ‘no’. So what was the cause of death then?

“There wasn't one” both the Doctor and Samantha looked at Constantine confused “They're not dead”. He hit a waste basket with his cane, the noise making all the patients sit up in their beds. Samantha backed away from the bed she’d been standing by, rather alarmed. The Doctor pulled her back behind him as though to protect her against the gas masked people. “It's all right. They're harmless”, Dr Constantine assured him “They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don't die”.

“And they've just been left here? Nobody's doing anything?” the Doctor asked. Samantha moved to stand beside the Doctor as the patients laid down on the beds.

“I try and make them comfortable” Constantine replied “What else is there?”

“All on your own? Isn’t there anyone else to help you?” Samantha asked him.

Constantine shook his head “no. I’m the last one left” he replied “Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither. But I'm still a doctor”

The Doctor could relate to Doctor Constantine. He too once had a family but they were gone now as where the rest of his people. “Yeah. I know the feeling”, he said. Samantha took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze to let him know that at this moment he wasn’t alone. The Doctor looked at her and she gave him a small smile. The Time Lord returned it, glad that she was with him.

“I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb”, Constantine told them.

“Probably too late”, the Doctor said gesturing to the beds.

“No. They are isolated cases. But… isolated cases breaking out all over London…” Constantine broke off coughing. The Doctor took several steps towards him “Stay back, stay back” Constantine warned him while coughing “Listen to me... Top floor. Room 802. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again”

“Why?” Samantha asked. 

“It was her brother. She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me… but she might mi…mi…” Constantine gags and clutches his neck “m…mu…me…”

Both the Doctor and Samantha watched concerned as speech as becoming more difficult for Constantine “Are… you… my mum-my?” Samantha’s eyes widened horrified as part of a gasmask started to protrude from Constantine’s mouth. She turned away unable to watch. 

“It’s ok Sam. Its over”, the Doctor said when the gasmask had completely fused to the man’s face. She looked back at Doctor Constantine who was slumped over in the chair.

“Ok, _that_ was horrible. I swear I’m never watching another horror movie again”, Samantha declared. Yes, she’d been a participant in the Predators vs Aliens battle in Antarctica so she had seen a fair number of horrible things…that didn’t mean she was used to it.

Suddenly they heard an American voice call out in the hall “Hello?”

Then came Rose’s voice which had Samantha running out of the ward, the Doctor following. Her sister was walking towards her with an unfamiliar man. “Rose!” she cried happily rushing over to her and enveloping her in a big hug “thank god you’re ok!” Samantha pulled back and lightly smacked her sister upside the head.

“Ok I deserved that”, Rose said rubbing the back of her head.

“Yeah you did. Why on Earth didn’t you wait for me? I told you wasn’t going to be long”

“I know Sammy. I’m sorry”, Rose said apologetically.

“Just don’t do anything like that again”, Samantha said sternly.

“I won’t, at least not without you”, Rose promised.

“Good answer. Now who’s your friend?” Samantha asked nodding to the man.

“Jack Harkness”, the man said holding out his hand.

“Sam Tyler”, Samantha said shaking his hand. Much to her surprise Jack kissed the back of her hand. The Doctor saw this from where he was standing and frowned. How dare he!

“I know, I’ve been hearing all about you on the way over for Rose”, Jack said with a smile.

“Really?” Samantha asked pulling her hand out of his as he’d yet to let go.

“Don’t worry it was all _good_ things”, Jack assured her “and I like your mark, very badass”. It was at this point the Doctor decided to step in.

“Hello I’m the Doctor”, he said. They shook hands, the Time Lord using a little bit more force than was necessary. And he had good reason to. Jack was flirting with his Samantha!

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too”, Jack said, rubbing his hand “that’s quite a grip you’ve got there”, he added before walking past them towards the ward.

“Where exactly have you been Rosie? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll”, Samantha said turning to her sister missing the smirk on the Doctor’s face as he watched Jack go, rubbing his hand.

“Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon”, Rose said starting to walk “Only way to see an air raid”.

“I’m sorry I must’ve misheard you. Did you say barrage balloon?” Samantha asked walking after her, the Doctor following.

“I did”, Rose replied “Listen, what's a Chula warship?”

That made the Doctor stop “Chula?”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This just isn't possible. How did this happen?” Jack said scanning one of the patients with the device on his wrist.

“What kind of Chula ship landed here?” the Doctor asked.

“What?” Jack asked glancing over at him.

“He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer”, Rose explained.

“What kind of warship?” the Doctor asked as Jack moved across the room to examine another patient.

“Does it matter?” Jack asked agitated “It's got nothing to do with this”

The Doctor took several steps towards the man “This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?” he asked angrily.

“An ambulance!” Jack turns on his wrist device to show the three of them a hologram of the ambulance “That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. Its space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait and you followed it all the way here. I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk”.

“You said it was a war ship”, Rose argued.

“They have ambulances in wars”, Jack informed her “It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man”.

“Can I shoot him?” Samantha asked suddenly, alarming Jack.

“Yes”, the Doctor replied.

“No, you can’t”, Rose said quickly stepping in front of Jack as Samantha pulled out her ICER.

“Why not Rosie?” she asked “he did con us and for all we know it was his ‘space junk’ that’s responsible for all this” Samantha gestured around the room with her free hand.

“This whole thing isn’t my fault!” Jack insisted “and I only conned you three because I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you?”

“Just a few more freelancers”, Rose admitted.

“Ahh… should have known” Jack said coming to stand beside Rose, eyeing the weapon in Samantha’s hand warily “you guys aren’t exactly blending in with the local colour”, he added nodding to their clothes.

“What is happening here, Doctor?” Rose asked wanting to know if Jack really was responsible or not. If he wasn’t then her sister had no reason to shoot him but if he was… she wasn’t going to stop Samantha from using her ICER on the man.

“Human DNA is being rewritten… by an idiot”, the Doctor replied glaring at Jack.

“What do you mean?” Rose asked needing more information.

“I don't know”, the Doctor replied “Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?”

Suddenly all the patients sit up in the beds. “What's happening?” Rose asked as all the patients started calling mummy.

“I don't know”, the Doctor said. The three of them started backing up as Doctor Constantine stood along with the patients.

“Don't let them touch you”, Samantha warned pointing her ICER at the gas-masked people as they closed in on them. She fired at one which only seemed to make him falter briefly but still continued at walking towards them “note to self: get FitzSimmons to make bullets with stronger dose of dendrotoxin”, she muttered putting her ICER away.

“What happens if they touch us?” Jack asked.

“You're looking at it”, the Doctor replied. _Now would be a good time for the time vortex to make an appearance_ Samantha thought as the group were backed against the wall by the patients who continued to call ‘mummy’.

**To be continued….**


	28. The old switcheroo

The Doctor glanced down at Samantha’s hands as the patients drew closer. She’d told him that whenever she was in danger like when fake Mickey had her hand pinned to the table or when the Editor had them restrained, her hands would start to shimmer with the time vortex. Seeing the golden glow start to appear, he knew he think of something quickly as he didn’t want Jack Harkness to know about this ‘ability’ of hers. The Doctor looked up at the patients and an idea came to him. _I hope this works_ he thought before saying firmly “Go to your room”. The patients stop in their tracks “Go to your room!” the Doctor commanded again. They watched all the patients tilt their heads in unison “I mean it! I'm very, very angry with you. I am very, very cross! Go… to… your… room!” the Doctor shouted, pointing in no particular direction. They all relaxed when the patients hung their heads and moved away from them, back to their respective beds. 

“I'm really glad that worked”, the Doctor said relieved noting how the golden glow faded from Samantha’s hands now that the danger was passed.

“Yeah, those would’ve been terrible last words”, Samantha commented.

“Why are they all wearing gas masks?” Rose asked sitting down by one of the beds.

“They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone”, Jack said settling down in a chair.

“How was your con supposed to work?” the Doctor asked.

“Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk…let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put 50% up front, oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con”

“Yeah. Perfect”, the Doctor said sarcastically.

“The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though, but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day” Jack laughed at his own joke. Both the Doctor and Samantha looked at him clearly not impressed. “Getting a hint of disapproval”

“Take a look around the room. This is what your ‘harmless piece of space-junk’ did”, the Doctor said.

“It was a burnt-out medical transporter, it was empty”, Jack insisted. The Doctor looked at him darkly before taking Samantha’s hand and walked out of the ward. Rose hurried after the pair. “I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no-one. I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it”, Jack called following after them.

The Doctor stopped and turn to him “I'll tell you what's happening. You forgot to set your alarm clock. Its volcano day”. 

A siren went off in the distance “What's that?” Rose asked looking up.

“The All Clear”, Jack replied.

“I wish”, the Doctor muttered.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken”, the Doctor told Jack when they reached room 802.

“What happened?” Rose asked.

“Let's find out” the Doctor replied “Get it open”.

Jack grinned and pointed his blaster at the door when the trio moved back. “What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?” Samantha asked the Time Lord quietly.

“Nothing”, the Doctor replied watching Jack fire his blaster at the lock, making a perfect square shaped hole around it. “Sonic blaster, fifty first century” the Doctor said making Jack look at him in surprise “Weapon Factories of Villengard?”

“You've been to the factories?” Jack asked.

The Doctor took the blaster from Jack to have a look at it “Once”, he replied.

“Well, they gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical. Vaporized the lot”, Jack explained.

The Doctor gave the blaster back “Like I said, once. There's a banana grove there, now. I like bananas. Bananas are good” he smiled pleasantly at the man and walked into the room, Samantha following him in. He flicked on the light to reveal a vandalized room. Filing cabinets tipped over, electronic equipment broken. The observation window across the room was smashed.

“Looks like something got out”, Samantha commented as Jack and Rose joined them in the room “something powerful and angry”.

Jack entered through the open door that lead to the room behind the broken observation window. The walls and floors were covered with child’s drawings. “A child? That explains ‘mummy’”, he remarked looking at the drawings.

“How could a child do this?” Rose asked entering the small room as well. The Doctor turned on a tape machine and a recording started to play.

 _“Do you know where you are?”_ Constantine asked

 _“Are you my mummy?”_ the little boy asked.

 _“Are you aware of what's around you? Can you see?”_ Constantine questioned.

 _“Are you my mummy?”_ the boy repeated.

_“What do you want? Do you know…”_

_“I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?_ ”

“Doctor, I've heard this voice before”, Rose said recognising it.

“So have Sam and I”, the Doctor agreed.

 _“Mummy?_ ”

“Always ‘are you my mummy?’ Like he doesn't know”, Rose added.

_“Mummy?”_

“Why doesn't he know?” Rose asked.

_“Are you there, mummy? Mummy?”_

“Not everyone knows who their mother is Rose”, Samantha said quietly “I don’t”. The Doctor took her hand knowing she was talking about her real mother. As she’d been dropped off at the orphanage when she was a baby, she didn’t know who her real mother was. Just like the little boy.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The recording continued with the child still asking for its mummy. “Can you sense it?” the Doctor asked who was now pacing around the child’s room.

“Sense what?” Jack asked.

“Coming out of the walls. Can you feel it?”

_“Mummy?”_

The Doctor stopped pacing and looked at Rose, Samantha and Jack “funny little human brains, how do you get around in those things?”

Samantha rolled her eyes. She knew he was stressed hence why he was insulting humans. She went out into the other room where the tape recorder was. Samantha stood in front of it and looked down at the tape reels spinning.

_“Mummy, please?”_

“Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?” the Doctor asked making Samantha look up.

“It was a med-ship. It was harmless”, Jack insisted.

“Yes, you keep saying ‘harmless’. Suppose one of them was affected, altered?” the Doctor questioned.

“Altered how?” Rose asked.

A crackling noise caught Samantha’s attention and she glanced down the tape had ended. Her eyes widened when she noticed her hands start to glow. She spun around and saw the boy inches away from her! She quickly raised her hands, time vortex bursting from them as she did so, knocking the boy back. “I’m sorry”, Samantha said as she lowered her hands. She hadn’t wanted to attack the boy but she knew that if she didn’t, he would’ve touched her and made her like him. Samantha was broken out of her thoughts when the Doctor grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the small room as the boy started to get up.

“You ok Sammy?” Rose asked looking her sister over worriedly.

“I’m fine Rosie”, Samantha assured her as the boy started to walk towards the room.

“On my signal make for the door. Now!” Jack shouted before violently producing a banana from his belt, pointing it at the child like a weapon. The Doctor grins and pulled the sonic blaster from his own belt. He uses it on the wall and ushered Samantha and Rose through.

“Don't drop the banana!” the Doctor said to Jack as he hopped though.

“Why not?!” Jack questioned as he followed the Time Lord.

“Good source of potassium!”

Jack snatched his blaster back from the Doctor and repaired the wall. “Digital rewind” he explained tossing the banana at the Doctor, who caught it “Nice switch”.

“It's from the groves of Villengard. I thought it was appropriate”, the Doctor said.

“There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?” Jack asked.

“Bananas are good” the Doctor stated.

“How did you knock the boy back?” Jack asked Samantha. Neither of them had seen what she did, they only heard the sound of the little boy hitting the floor.

Before Samantha could come up with an answer that didn’t involve the words time vortex, the child thumped on the wall on the other side, making it crack.

The group ran along the corridor and down a flight of stairs. The four of them didn’t make it very far until they encountered gas-masked patients bursting out of the ward calling mummy. The quartet hastily backtracked but they find another group of gas-masked patients. Jack, Samantha, Rose and the Doctor found themselves back at the wall where the child was trying to break through. “It's keeping us here till it can get at us”

“It's controlling them?” Jack asked pointing his blaster at every direction.

“It is them”, the Doctor corrected him “It's every living thing in this hospital”

“Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and as a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter. Doc, what you got?”

The Doctor got out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket “I've got a sonic, er… Oh, never mind”, he said.

“What?” Jack asked.

“It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that” the Doctor said turning to face the second group of gas-masked people turning his sonic on and pointing it at them.

“Disrupter? Cannon? What?” Jack questioned.

“It's sonic! Totally sonic! I am soniced up!”

“A sonic what?!”

“Screwdriver!” the Doctor shouted.

Jack turned to him as the child breaks through the wall. Rose grabbed Jack’s wrist and makes him point his blaster at the floor. “Going down!” she warns before firing the weapon.

The four fell through the hole and landed in a messy heap. Jack quickly got to his feet and used his sonic blaster to repair the ceiling. “Doctor, are you okay?” Rose asked standing up.

“Could've used a warning”, the Doctor grumbled getting up. He turned to Samantha and helped her up “you ok?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine”, she replied ignoring the pain in her left ankle. She must’ve twisted it when she landed.

“Who has a sonic screwdriver?” Jack asked.

“I do”

“Lights”, Rose said looking around for a light switch in the ward they’d fallen into.

“Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, ‘ooo, this could be a little more sonic?’”

“What, you've never been bored?” the Doctor said indignantly.

Hey don’t diss the sonic”, Samantha said “the sonic is cool”

“Thank you Sammy”, the Doctor said glad she was defending the sonic. He was watching Samantha stand there avoiding putting too much weight on her left foot. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yep fine”, she lied. The Doctor used his sonic and scanned her.

“You’ve twisted it”, he said reading the results. “Why didn’t you say something?” he asked putting his arm around her waist to support her.

“I didn’t want to make a fuss”, Samantha replied. And if she had to be honest a twisted ankle was nothing to what she felt after her fight with the Centipede Soldier. She felt like a walking bruise after that. Rose managed to find the light switch and turned the lights on. The patients is the beds sat up and started calling mummy.

“Door”, Jack said and he and Rose rushed towards it while the Doctor helped Samantha along. The American tried to blast the door open but the weapon doesn’t work. He moved back to allow the Doctor to open the door with his sonic. Samantha leaned against the wall while he worked on getting the door open.

“It's the special features. They really drain the battery”, Jack explained.

“The battery?!” Rose said surprised. The gun wasn’t so cool to her after all. The Doctor got the door open and helped Samantha in the room. “That's so lame!”

The Doctor slams the door shut after Jack and Rose entered. “I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory”, Jack said running to the barred window.

“Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew up the building Rosie and I worked in” Samantha said sitting down in the wheelchair “That's practically how he communicates”.

“Okay, that door should hold it for a bit”, the Doctor said after he’d locked the door with his sonic.

“The door? The wall didn't stop it!” Jack exclaimed.

“It’s got to find us first”, Samantha pointed out.

“Come on, we're not done yet! Assets, assets!” the Doctor urged.

“Well, I've got a banana, and in a pinch you could put up some shelves”, Jack said leaning on the wall “and Sammy’s got a gun that doesn’t seem to work”.

“One: don’t call me Sammy and two: it may not work on those gas masked people but it’ll work perfectly fine on you”, Samantha said giving him a look.

“Window”, the Doctor said going to it.

“Barred, Sheer drop outside. Seven stories”, Jack replied.

“And no other exits”, the Doctor said having quick look around the room.

“Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?” Jack commented. The Doctor turns and eyes him for a moment, then looks at Rose.

“So, where'd you pick this one up, then?” the Doctor asked.

“Doctor…” Rose said warningly.

“She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance”, Jack said. Rose stood there looking rather uncomfortable. Samantha rolled her eyes.

“Oh please”, she muttered.

“Okay. One, we've got to get out of here” the Doctor stated “Two, we can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?”

“Yeah Jack just disappeared”, Samantha replied. The Doctor spun around to see that the American was no longer there.


	29. The great looking ones

The Doctor knelt in front of Samantha, checking her ankle. “Does this hurt?” he asked.

“Nope”, Samantha replied truthfully. The pain in her left ankle was gone. She could only guess that the Time Vortex had healed it while they were talking, just like it healed the burns on her hands on Platform One.

“Are you sure?” the Doctor asked unsure of whether she was lying to stop him worrying.

“Yes I’m sure”, Samantha answered. To prove it, she stood up and raised her right foot putting all her weight on her left. “See?” she said putting her right foot down “perfectly fine. Just like my hands were fine on Platform One”.

The Doctor stood up “You mean…?”

“Yep, I do”, Samantha confirmed causing Rose to look at them confused. 

“Amazing”, the Doctor remarked. He knew that the time vortex made an appearance to protect Samantha whenever she was in danger but he didn’t know it could heal her too. Though that would explain how she had no burns after holding down that lever to slow the fans down.

“What’s amazing?” she asked as the Doctor moved over to the barred window “what are you guys talking about?”

“Oh just… stuff”, Samantha replied vaguely. She felt bad for not telling Rose about the time vortex within her especially since she’d seen it in action. She just didn’t know how she’d react to it. So for now she was keeping it between herself and the Doctor.

“Like that’s not vague or anything”, Rose muttered. As she wasn’t going to get any answers from her sister or the Doctor, she’d just change topic. “Ok, so Jack’s vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great looking ones who do that Sammy?” she asked.

“I’m making an effort not to be insulted”, the Doctor spoke up from where he was working at the window.

“You shouldn’t be Doctor. You are better looking than Jack”, Samantha said making the Time Lord stop what he was doing and turn to her.

“How much better?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh…” Samantha gave him a quick kiss “1,000%”. The Doctor grinned, very pleased.

An old radio in the room suddenly crackled to life and Jack’s voice sounded “Rose? Sam? Doctor? Can you hear me?” the trio went over to it, the Doctor picking it up “I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you” the Time Lord stared in confusion at the torn wires of the radio “It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it. Hang in there”

“How are you speaking to us?” Samantha asked also looking at the wires confused. It shouldn’t be possible for him to talk to them through the radio. The wires weren’t even connected.

“Om-Com” Jack replied “I can call anything with a speaker grill”.

“Now there's a coincidence”, the Doctor said “The child can Om-Com, too”.

“He can?” Rose asked surprised.

“That’s how he spoke through the TARDIS phone earlier”, the Doctor told Samantha.

“And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to fiiiind you”, the child spoke in a sing song voice through the radio.

“Doctor, can you hear that?” Jack asked.

“Loud and clear”, the Doctor replied.

“I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do”, Jack said.

“Coming to find you, mummy!” the child cheered.

“Remember this one, Rose?” Jack asked. A moment later, Moonlight Serenade started to play through the radio.

“Our song”, Rose said quietly embarrassed. Both the Doctor and Samantha looked at her questioningly.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A little later, Rose is relaxing in a wheelchair while Samantha leant against the wall checking over her ICER, again. “You’ve already checked that over twice”, Rose stated as Samantha slid the magazine back into her gun “no need to do it again”.

“It’s better thorough when checking your weapon than not at all”, Samantha told Rose “at least that’s what Ward always says”. She slid her ICER back into her holster and looked over at the Doctor who was doing something to the window “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars”, the Doctor replied.

“You don't think he's coming back, do ya?” Rose asked with a frown.

“Wouldn't bet my life”, the Doctor muttered not looking away from what he was doing.

“Why don't you trust him?” Rose asked the Time Lord.

“Well he _is_ a con man Rosie”, Samantha pointed out.

“Why do you?” the Doctor asked glancing back at the blonde.

“He saved my life” Rose replied “Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing” she received nothing but silence “I trust him because he's like you. Except with dating and dancing…” the Doctor shot Rose a look “What?”

“You just assume I'm…” the Doctor trailed off not wanting to finish that sentence.

“What?” Rose persisted.

“You just assume that I don't…dance”

“What, are you telling me you _do…_ dance?” Rose said grinning.

“Nine hundred years old, me…”

“You’re nine hundred?!” Samantha said gaping at him. Never in a million years would she have guessed that he was nine hundred years old.

“Yep”

“I never would’ve guessed”, she said shaking her head “you’re full of surprises Doctor”.

“Anyway, I’ve been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point I've danced”, the Doctor said continuing on from what he was saying before Samantha interrupted.

Rose raised her eyebrows “You?” she said sceptically.

“Problem?”

“Doesn't the universe implode or something if you…dance?” Rose teased.

“Well, I've got the moves but I wouldn't want to boast”, the Doctor said.

Rose went over to radio and turned the volume up. The Doctor looked around completely wrong footed. Samantha watched Rose walk up to the Doctor and hold out her hand “You've got the moves? Show me your moves”, she challenged.

“Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete”, the Doctor said focusing on trying to loosen the bars with his sonic

“Jack will be back. He'll get us out. So come on. The world doesn't end ‘cos the Doctor dances”

The Doctor turns off his sonic, pockets it and turned to her. “Barrage balloon?” he asked looking at her hand. Her skin was unmarked by injuries.

“What?”

“You were hanging from a barrage balloon”, the Doctor repeated taking her hand and looking it over. Rose didn’t have any cuts or bruises. Unlike her sister, she didn’t have the time vortex in her to heal her injuries. So how are her hands fine? “You were hanging from a rope thousands feet above London. Not a cut, not a bruise”

“Yeah, I know. Captain Jack fixed me up”, Rose replied as Samantha came over to have a look at her sister’s hands.

“You’re calling him Captain Jack now?” Samantha asked.

 “Well, his name's Jack and he is a Captain Sammy”, Rose answered.

“He's not really a Captain, Rose”, the Doctor told her.

“Do you know what I think? I think you're experiencing Captain Envy” Rose said “You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them” the blonde girl tried to get the Doctor to dance but he just stood there.

“If ever he was a Captain, he's been defrocked”, the Time Lord muttered.

“Actually, I quit. Nobody takes my frock”, Jack said catching their attention. Without even realising it, they’d been teleported on board Jack’s ship. “Sorry about the delay”, Jack apologised “I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security”.

“You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols?” the Doctor asked raising his eyebrows “Maybe you should remember whose ship it is”

“Oh, I do. She was _gorgeous._ Like I told her, be back in 5 minutes” Jack ducked into a compartment under the console.

“This is a Chula ship”, the Doctor said looking around.

“Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one is dangerous”, Jack called from the compartment. The Doctor snaps his fingers and the golden glow envelopes one of his hands.

“They're what fixed my hands up!” Rose exclaimed “Jack called them um…”

“Nanobots?” the Doctor supplied “nanogenes”.

“Nanogenes! Yeah” Rose nodded.

Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now” the Doctor explained “They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws”. The Doctor waved his hand and the nanogenes disappeared. He then turned to Jack “Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk”.

“As soon as I get the nav-com back online”, Jack said as if he was being nagged “Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were doing”.

“We were talking about dancing”, the Doctor said as Samantha sat down on the bed, pulling out her ICER to check it over, again.

“It didn’t look like talking”, Jack countered as the Doctor went to sit next to Samantha.

“It didn’t feel like dancing”, Rose muttered.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minutes later the quartet had arrived at the crash site. Jack spotted Algy pacing up and down “Hey, they've got Algy on duty. It must be important”, he said.

“We've got to get past him”, the Doctor said.

“Are the words ‘distract the guard’ heading in our general direction?” Rose asked.

“I don't think that'd be such a good idea”, Jack said.

“Don't worry I think Sammy and I can handle it”, Rose assured him “isn’t that right Sam?” she turned to her sister but she was gone! “Where did she go?” Rose asked.

“Found her”, the Doctor said noticing the brunette casually strolling towards Algy.

“Hey you! You’re not supposed to be here!” a soldier shouted having spotted her.

“Who? Me?” Samantha said innocently turning towards the man.

“This is a restricted area”, the solider said.

“Is it? Hadn’t noticed”

“You’re going to have to come with us miss”, one of the soldiers said.

“I’m not going anywhere”, Samantha said firmly.

“We’ll see about that”, a soldier said stepping forward and grasped her wrist.

“Big mistake”, Samantha said before she slammed her other fist into his face. He stumbled back, clutching his nose. That’s when the other two soldiers decided to step in. Samantha easily flipped one onto his back, quickly pulling out her ICER and shot the other one. The first soldier joined the other two on the floor. “Told you I’m not going anywhere”, she said before shooting Algy in the chest. The Doctor, Rose and Jack watched the fight from where they stood, the latter two gaping at what they were witnessing. The Time Lord just smirked. He knew how good she was, fighting skills wise.

“Your sister is a badass”, Jack commented to Rose.


	30. Mother knows best

After freeing Nancy from where she was being held, the group went over to where the ‘bomb’ was. “You see? Just an ambulance”, Jack said as he and the Doctor pulled the tarp off of it.

“That's an ambulance?” Nancy asked eyeing it. It didn’t look like any ambulances she’d ever seen.

“It's hard to explain…” Rose began.

“It's from another world Nancy”, Samantha said bluntly. She then noticed some writing on the side of the ambulance, partially obscured by some dirt. She moved closer to it, reached out and wiped away the dirt. Her eyes widened when the words _Schlechter Wolf_ was revealed. “Bad Wolf”, she said under her breath so that no one else heard her. This was the fourth time it’s popped up, that she’s noticed at least. What is it with those two words? First it’s a graffiti tag on the TARDIS in 2006. Then it’s heard over the tannoy in the alien museum in 2012. The third time it was a TV channel in the year 200,000. Now it’s popped up again in 1941, this time on the side of a Chula ambulance. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say it was almost like those two words were following them wherever they went through time and space. But how? What did it even mean?

Jack’s voice broke through her thoughts. “They've been trying to get in”, he said looking at the controls, noting the scratches on it.

“Of course they have”, the Doctor said rolling his eyes. They weren’t exactly going to leave it alone where they? “They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon….” Jack started pressing buttons on the keypad “What're you doing?” he asked the man.

“The sooner you see this thing is empty” Jack said, still pressing buttons “the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it” the controls explode with sparks and they all jump backwards. “Didn't happen last time”, he said.

“It hadn't crashed last time. They’re the emergency protocols”, the Doctor told him as an alarm blared.

“I’m guessing that’s what the flashing red light is for”, Samantha said nodding to it, hand still on her ICER. She’d automatically went for it the moment the alarm went off.

“Doctor!” Rose cried as the gates at the far end started shaking.

“Captain, secure those gates!” the Time Lord ordered.

“Why?” Jack asked.

“Just do it!” the Doctor shouted. Jack nodded, clambered down from the ambulance and ran over to the open gates.

“I’ll help him”, Samantha said before she ran off, the Doctor grabbed her lightly by the arm.

“You be careful”, he said.

“I will”, Samantha promised. The Doctor let go of her arm and she ran over to where Jack was. The pair slammed the gates shut. “We need something to keep these closed”, she said to Jack keeping both hands pressed against the gates, to keep them shut. The former Time Agent looked around and found a length of chain nearby. He picked it up and wound it through the gate, binding them together the best he could.

“Ok, you can let go now”, he said to Samantha and she did so.

“That’s not going to hold them for long”, she remarked.

“I know but it’s the best I can do”, Jack told her. They turned and walked back to the Chula ambulance “by the way, those were some pretty impressive moves you did on those soldiers”, Jack said as they walked “Where did you learn to fight like that?”

“Thanks. Ward taught me”, Samantha replied “He’s my SO. I’m a SHIELD Agent. Well… a part time one”, she added pulling her badge out of her pocket and showing it to Jack.

“SHIELD? I’ve heard of that organisation. Got some pretty notable members, almost legendary”, Jack recalled. While working at the Time Agency, he had worked closely with a few SHIELD agents. They were good people. Come to think of it Samantha did look an awful lot like one of those ‘almost legendary’ members. But he couldn’t quite remember which one. _It’ll probably come to me later_ he thought.

“Really? I don’t suppose you could tell me who these almost legendary members are?” Samantha asked curious.

“Sorry Sammy”, Jack said apologetically “I can’t tell you. I’m from the future”

“Oh”, Samantha said. She was disappointed by his answer but understood his reason why he couldn’t say. Being from the future, he would have knowledge about events that for her, had yet come to pass. Telling her anything about the future, could inevitably alter it. As the Doctor has mentioned a couple of times, time can be rewritten. Nothing is set in stone, especially not the future. Hence why Jack can’t say a word about who those ‘almost legendary’ members of SHIELD were. “Where’s Rose and Nancy?” Samantha asked the Doctor when she and Jack reached the ambulance and found the two girls absent.

“They’re securing the place Nancy came through”, the Doctor replied. He and Samantha watched as Jack continued to type into the key pad. “It's empty. Look at it”, he said when the hatch on the ambulance slid open.

“What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter?” the Doctor asked as Rose and Nancy joined them.

“This is a wild guess but is it….nanogenes?” Samantha said.

“Got it in one Sammy”, the Doctor turned to Jack “It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species”.

Jack paled, rather shaken by that fact. It really was all his fault “Oh, God”.

“Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world” the Doctor explained “But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gasmask”.

“And they brought him back to life? They can do that?” Rose asked.

“What's life?” the Doctor asked “Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gasmask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because, you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest…”

“They’re going to make every single person on the planet like the little boy”, Samantha added “a little boy who’s just looking for his mother”.

“And there’s nothing in the world can stop it!” the Doctor said looking at Jack angrily.

“I didn't know”, Jack said defiantly although his was still rather shaken.

“Can I shoot him?” Samantha asked half hoping she could. This entire thing was his fault. Her sister was in danger because of Jack bloody Harkness.

“No. Unfortunately we need him conscious”, the Doctor replied glaring at the shaken up man.

“Can I punch him then?” Samantha asked really, really hoping that the Doctor would say yes.

The Doctor looked at her and seeing the anger in her eyes he said “Yes you can”. Samantha smiled at him before going over to Jack and punching him hard in the face. Jack stumbled back a couple of steps, clutching his nose but didn’t say anything in protest because he’d definitely deserved it.

The Time Lord didn’t bother to hide his pleased expression as he turned back to the ambulance. He also knew that Jack deserved it. And knowing that Samantha had one hell of a punch, he was definitely going to avoid being on her bad side.

“Rose!” Nancy suddenly cried, seeing the gas masked people stumble towards them over the rail track. Rose and Samantha run to her side, eyes widening when they saw this too.

“Doctor those patients are coming”, Samantha warned him.

“The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol”, the Doctor explained looking up from his work.

“But…the gas mask people aren't troops…” Rose said quietly.

“They are now” the Doctor corrected her “This is a battle-field ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, programme you…”

“That's why the child's so strong. Why it could Om-Com”, Samantha finished, her fingers itching to pull out her ICER. But there was no point as it was useless against the gas masked people.

“It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes” the Doctor nodded “All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four year old looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them”.

The gasmask people surround the fence. “Why don't they attack?” Jack asked eyeing them.

 “Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander”, the Doctor replied.

“The child?” Jack asked.

“Jamie”, Nancy corrected him.

“So how long until the bomb falls?” Rose asked Jack.

“Any second”, he answered looking up worriedly.

“What's the matter, Captain?” the Doctor looked at Jack “A bit close to the volcano for you?”

“He's just a little boy”, Nancy breathed.

“I know”, the Doctor said softly.

“He's just a little boy who wants his mummy”, Nancy said tearing up. Samantha put an arm around her.

“There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy…” the Doctor began.

“And this little boy can”, Samantha finished. If she was in the child’s place, she would do the exact same thing. She’d tear the world apart to save Jackie. She’d do it for anyone she cared about. Rose, Skye and even her team. If they were in danger, there was nothing she wouldn’t do to save them.

“So what're we going to do?” Rose asked really hoping that the Doctor had a plan to save the day. He always saved the day. He always came through.

“I don't know”, the Doctor replied. It was true he had no idea what to do. How to stop this.

“It's my fault”, Nancy said quietly. She sounded to Samantha like she was on the verge of tears.

“No” the Doctor shook his head.

“It’s you”, Samantha said when it hit her. She knew why Nancy was so upset. The little boy wasn’t her brother, it was her son. _She_ was the one the child was looking for “you’re Jamie’s mother aren’t you?” Samantha asked and Nancy nodded in confirmation.

“Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds”, Jack warned as bombs landed nearby.

“You can teleport us out”, Rose said turning to Jack.

He shook his head “Not you guys. The nav-com's back online. Going to take too long to override the protocols”.

“So it's volcano day” the Doctor stated “Do what you've got to do”. The former Time Agent vanished.

The gate opens and Jamie stands there “Are you my mummy?” he asked.

“He's going to keep asking, Nancy. He's never going to stop”, the Doctor said.

“Mummy?” Jamie asked again.

“Tell him Nancy”, Samantha said “trust me”.

Nancy nodded and walked forward as does Jamie.  “Are you my mummy?”

“Yes, I am your mummy”, Nancy told him.

“Mummy?”

“I'm here”, Nancy said stopping.

“Are you my mummy?”

“I'm here”, she repeated kneeling down in front of Jamie.

“Are you my mummy?”

“I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry”, Nancy said sincerely, tears in her eyes. The young woman then took the boy into his arms and a cloud of Nanogenes surround them.

The Doctor watched what was happening excited. Samantha and Rose looked equally happy “Come on, please. Come on, you clever little Nanogenes. Figure it out!” he urged “The mother, she's the mother. It's got to be enough information. Figure it out”.

Nancy fell away from Jamie as the nanogenes disappeared. The trio hurry over to them “Oh, come on. Give me a day like this”, the Doctor said hardly daring to hope “Give me this one”. He removes Jamie’s gas mask, revealing a little boy underneath. He laughed ecstatically picking the boy up “Ha-ha! Welcome back! Twenty years till pop music - you're going to love it”.

“What happened?” Nancy asked looking at her son in wonder.

“The Nanogenes recognised the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them!” the Doctor explained, still grinning.

“Mother knows best”, Samantha said with a big smile on her face.

“Oh, Jamie”, Nancy said happily as the Doctor set him down on the ground. She hugged him again. A bomb fell nearby bringing them back to reality.

“Doctor, that bomb…” Rose said.

“Taken care of it”, the Doctor assured her.

“How?” she asked.

“Psychology”, he replied gesturing at Nancy and Jamie.

The bomb hurtles towards them and is suddenly stopped when it got caught by a blue force field. A moment later, Jack appeared sitting astride the bomb. “Doctor!” he called down to him.

“Good lad!”

“The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long”, Jack explained.

“Change of plan. Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?” the Doctor asked.

Jack nodded and bid the sisters farewell. The remaining humans and time lord watched Jack’s ship fly away. “What are you doing?” Samantha asked as the Doctor summoned the nanogenes.

“Software patch. Going to email the upgrade” the Doctor replied “you want moves? I’ll give you moves” The Doctor threw the nanogenes away, towards the gas mask people. He grinned as they all fell to the ground, nanogenes surrounding them. “Everybody lives! Just this once, everybody lives!” he said ecstatically. Samantha could help but laugh at the big grin on his face. He looked so happy at the prospect that they were all going to live.

The sisters hang back with Nancy and Jamie while the Doctor spoke briefly to Constantine. He walked back to them, climbing on top of the Chula ambulance “Right, you lot. Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget the welfare state!” the Doctor said loudly to Doctor Constantine who smiles. The Time Lord jumped down and went to work on the control panel. “Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?”

“You’re usually the first one in line”, Samantha pointed out.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the trio entered the TARDIS, the Doctor was still in his very good mood. “The Nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic!” he said happily.

Samantha and Rose smiled at his enthusiasm “Look at you beaming away like a kid at Christmas”, the brunette Tyler said.

The Doctor threw out his arms “And everybody lives!  Everybody lives! I need more days like this!”

“Doctor…” Rose began but the Doctor continued as though he hadn’t hurt her. Which was probably the case.

“Go on, ask me anything. I'm on fire!”

“What about Jack?” Rose asked, the Doctor’s grin faded.

“What about him?”

“Shouldn’t we save him?” Samantha asked “He did put his life on the line stopping the bomb”.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack was surprised to hear Moonlight Serenade playing behind him. He spins his chair around to see Rose and the Doctor in a rather awkward position. “Oi Harkness! Get in here!” Samantha shouted at him. Jack leaps to his feet and runs out of his ship and into the TARDIS.

“Right and turn”, Rose instructed. The Doctor spins her around, getting her arm all twisted. Samantha shook her head at them with a smile on her face. “Okay, okay, try and spin me again, but this time don't get my arm up my back!” the Doctor looked sheepish at that “No extra points for a half-nelson”.

“I'm sure I used to know this stuff”, the Doctor said rather put out. He turned his attention to Jack “Close the door, will you. Your ship’s about to blow up, there’s gonna be a draft”, he said.

“I got it”, Samantha said quickly going over to the door and closing it.

The Doctor flicks a switch and the engines start up. “Welcome to the TARDIS”, he said as Samantha walked over.

“Much bigger on the inside…” Jack remarked as he looked around.

“You'd better be”

“I think what the Doctor's trying to say is… you may cut in”, Rose said taking Jack’s hand, ready to start the next dance.

 “I've just remembered!” the Doctor suddenly shouted.

“What?” Rose asked.

The music changes to In the Mood, playing out on all the speakers around the console room. The Doctor dances on the spot to it, snapping his fingers.

“I can dance!” he said happily. 

“Wanna show me those moves?” Samantha asked holding out her hands. The Doctor grinned, took her hands and spun her around perfectly. It was almost as if, he’d only been pretending that couldn’t dance. Jack watched them for a moment before taking Rose’s hands and danced with her.

The Doctor suddenly dipped Samantha earning a laugh of delight from her. He grinned as he pulled her up and continued with their dance.


	31. Return of Ian Quinn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This episode is based off AOS episode: T.R.A.C.K.S.

The next time Samantha was called in by Coulson, it was a couple of days after their trip to 1941. The mission was fairly straightforward: go under cover as passengers and board the train carrying the package meant for Ian Quinn; tag it and follow it back to the intended recipient.

Of course as with most of their missions, nothing went as planned. Coulson, May and Ward were no longer on the train and Jemma was currently unconscious, knocked out by a grenade version of the ICER. That left Fitz, Skye and Samantha to follow the package. 

The trio followed the vehicle carrying the package all the way to a very fancy looking house. Fitz, Sky and Samantha crouch down by some bushes and watch the car pull up outside the house. “Coulson was right” Fitz said as Ian Quinn exited the vehicle “Cybertek led us to Quinn”.

They watch as Quinn shakes the hand of one of the men who had been on the train. “Activate the tracker, let them know we’re here”, Skye told Fitz and he pressed a button on the tracker to activate it. As he does so, Samantha eyed the people on the steps of the house.

“You want to go in there don’t you Sammy?” Skye asked her sister having noticed how intently her twin was looking at the people on the steps. She didn’t blame Samantha one bit for wanting to go into the house. Quinn was in there and as it took them long enough to track him down since their first meeting in Malta… they couldn’t let him get away again.

“Of course I do”, Samantha replied looking at her “ _Quinn_ is in there Skye”.

“I know”, she said understandingly “but you won’t be going in there alone. I’m coming with you”. There was no way she was going to let Samantha walk in there alone, no matter how good her fighting skills were.

“I figured as much”, Samantha turned to the house again, seeing that all the people had gone inside save the one man who was pacing by the parked cars. “Fitz can you disable their cars?” she asked glancing at him.

“With my bare hands”, he replied pulling out two small cubes that were stuck together from a pocket in his rucksack. He set them down on the ground and opened up the rucksack to get out the spare ICER they had. The one Samantha had brought with her was now strapped securely to her leg. “You should take this”, Fitz said holding it out to Skye.

“You’ll need it out here”, Skye said. As Samantha already had her ICER, she didn’t want Fitz to be left outside without a weapon to protect himself.

“Just take it”, Fitz insisted. Skye sighed and took the ICER from him. “Good luck and be careful”, he said to the sisters.

“You, too”, Skye said sincerely. Fitz zipped up his rucksack and shoulders it.

“Wait for it…” Samantha said watching the man by the cars “Now!” she said when he moved away, enabling them to run from their hiding place. Fitz goes for the cars while Skye and Samantha headed for the house.

With their ICER’s at the ready, the twins stuck close to the side of the house, edging towards and archway. Samantha signals for Skye to stop when they got close. She quickly peeked around the corner, pulling back before the guard stationed on the porch area spotted her. ‘One’ she mouthed to Skye who nodded.

Samantha counts down from three with her fingers and when she got to zero, the pair stepped out, shooting the guard simultaneously with their ICER’s. He dropped to the floor unconscious. Samantha and Skye hurried up the steps and entered the building.

The pair creep quietly along the hallway, ICERS at the ready. Apart from the guard outside, they hadn’t ran into anyone else.  Samantha and Skye rounded a corner just as a door opened further down the hallway. They quickly slip back around the corner and watch as a man and woman walk through the open door.

“Find Mr. Quinn. Tell him his purchase is downstairs”, the woman said to the man.

“Si”, the man replied. The sisters watch the pair walk further away from them. When they were sure the man and woman was far enough away, they moved down the hallway to the open doorway. They looked in to see a set of steps that led downwards.

“Should we go down?” Skye asked Samantha quietly as they stood at the top of the steps.

“Yes”, Samantha replied “we need to find out what that package is” and with that she began to descend the steps. Skye followed quietly after her. At the bottom was a door. Samantha put her hand on the handle “ready?” she asked Skye.

“Yeah”, she replied tightening her grip on her ICER. Samantha turned the handle and slowly pushed the door open. She entered the room carefully, making sure it was empty. Skye followed her in, glancing behind every so often to check to see if anyone was coming down the steps.

In the middle of the room was a table with a box sitting on top of it. It was Quinn’s package. Up against the back wall was some sort chamber. There was another against the wall on the right side of the room. Unlike the first, this one seemed to be lit up. Skye and Samantha walk up to it, their eyes widening when they saw who was inside. It was Mike Peterson!

“Mike”, Skye breathed staring down at him. Neither of them could believe their eyes. The last time they’d seen the man, he’d been rushing off to save Coulson and then there was the big explosion. They thought he’d been killed but he was here. He was alive.

“Hello”, Quinn’s voice suddenly said behind them. Startled, Skye and Samantha spun around, pointing their ICER’s at the man. Before either one could fire a shot, two men came out of the shadows and ripped the guns out of their hands. _Sammy you idiot! You let your guard down!_ Samantha mentally reprimanded as she and Skye were pinned against the chamber, a hand at their throats and their own ICER’s pointed at their heads.

“Skye. Samantha. The Clairvoyant told me to expect you”, Quinn said smirking at them. Samantha just glared back at him.

“Signor Quinn, this is the same gun as the specs that you gave us”, the man holding Skye informed him.

“Yeah, you guys have been looking at us while we’ve been looking at you…” Quinn tapped the ICER to make his point “And we found a handful of particularly interesting things”. He went over to the head of the chamber, twists the lock and pulls the door open. The men holding the sisters captive released them with a shove. Samantha rubbed her neck glad that the time vortex didn’t decide to make an appearance. While it would’ve allowed them to escape, she couldn’t afford Quinn discovering this ‘ability’ of hers.

With their ICER’s still pointed at them, Samantha and Skye watched as Quinn pulled out the tray Mike was laying on, the man starting to stir the moment he was out of the chamber. “Mike”, Skye said as he slowly started to sit up.

“That’s right, you three know each other”, Quinn said looking from the twins to Mike and back. He clapped Mike on the shoulder “Hey. Do you know who I am?” he asked and Mike nodded his head. “And you have your orders?” Quinn questioned. Mike nods again.

Samantha frowned at that. Orders? What did Quinn mean by that? Is Mike working for him now or something? “Good, because I purchased something that’s gonna help you complete them”, Quinn said. He took the ICER from the guy who was pointing it at Skye, who incidentally happened to be one of the men from the train.

While Quinn pointed the ICER at Skye, the train guy turned to the package on the table and opened it. “Mike. What is happening here?” Skye asked. Mike looked at her but didn’t say anything.

The man from the train turns from the open package and has some sort of big bowl like device in his hands. Mike looks down as he places the device on the stump of his missing leg before glancing over at the twins.

“Stand, please”, the train guy ordered as he stepped away. Mike stands on his leg using his arm on the table to steady himself. The Train Guy punches a bunch of buttons inside the package. Mike lets out a yell of pain as the whirring increases. The “bowl” suddenly spreads out along his thigh, going up to his hip. Suddenly it starts to grow from below as well giving Mike a newly completed leg. While this is going on, Mike is yelling out in pain. Samantha and Skye both watched, wincing every time Mike cried out.

“Mancini, thank you” Quinn said giving the ICER back to him “You will be receiving your payment shortly”. Mancini and the other man who’d been holding Samantha’s ICER on her, left the room. The moment they left the room, Quinn went over and tapped Mike’s new leg “That is the best money can buy, my friend”, he said sounding rather proud about that “Every piece of technology in you is top-of-the-line” _every piece? How much did they put in him?_ Samantha thought worriedly.

“I just wonder if I’m getting my money’s worth” Quinn mused aloud “I know you get your orders from the Clairvoyant, so that means you’re not allowed to hurt me, right?”

Samantha could tell by the look Mike gave Quinn, that he would love to hurt the man. That told her Mike wasn’t working for the Clairvoyant willingly. It made her wonder what this Clairvoyant had that would make Mike do what he’s told. She hoped it wasn’t his son, Ace. “But what if I tried to hurt you?” Quinn asked, pulling out a small handgun and pointed it at the man “Would you stop me?”

Mike looks down at the gun then up to Quinn “No. I would not”, he replied.

Quinn picks up Mike’s hand and puts the gun in it. “And…if I wanted you to…to hurt them…” he pulled Mike’s arm up pointing the gun at the twins. Immediately Samantha tugged Skye behind her “You know, kill them…will you?” Quinn asked “I mean, what would hurt Agent Coulson more than to lose his pet projects?”

Mike looks at the girls and then at Quinn “Those aren’t my orders”, he answered, his voice calm but Samantha could tell by the look on his face that was he anything but calm. Quinn looked at him sharply as Mike lowers the gun and presses it against his chest. It wasn’t the answer he was expecting. “They’re not who I’m supposed to kill”, Mike declared and with that he walked out of the room.

Skye darted out from behind Samantha to chase after Mike. She’d just reached the door when a shot rang out. Skye spun around, her eyes widening when she saw Samantha with one hand pressed against her stomach, blood seeping out from under her fingers. “Sam!” she exclaimed but before she could take a step towards Samantha, Quinn fired again. Skye cried out as the bullet hit her in the stomach. She collapsed to the floor, hand pressed on her wound. 

“I’m sorry”, Quinn said to her as she gasped in pain “But I have my orders, too”. He went over to Samantha who like Skye, was gasping in pain. The brunette let out a scream as Quinn shot her in the stomach again. He then walked out of the room, not once looking back at the dying women.

With enormous effort, Skye managed to push herself up onto her elbows and look at her sister. “Sammy?” she gasped out. She got no response. “Sammy?” she called louder and then groaned at the pain that was spreading through her body. There was still no response. Skye knew she had to get help. Neither one of them was going to survive if Coulson and the others didn’t show up soon. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself into a sitting position, using the wall to keep her upright. Skye reached into her pocket for her phone but she couldn’t find it. She cursed under her breath when she discovered that her phone wasn’t in the other pocket either.

Black dots started to appear in her vision. Skye knew it wasn’t going to be long before she passed out. “Coulson…I’m sorry”, she whispered as she succumbed to the darkness. 


	32. Bad news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based off the episode: T.A.H.I.T.I

To say that the Doctor was angry upon finding out that his companion/girlfriend had been shot while on mission was an understatement. He was borderline furious. And it showed in the way he stormed up to the hospital where both Samantha and Sky had been taken. With his arm around a very worried Rose Tyler, Jack hurried after the fuming Time Lord.

The Doctor had plenty of angry words ready for Coulson but when he saw how distraught they all looked, he refrained from saying any of them. Instead he asked about the twins. “They’re both in surgery right now”, Coulson replied “they went in about an hour ago”. He then snatched up his phone from the table and walked off. He had an important call to make to Director Fury. The Doctor, Jack and Rose settled down on the sofa for what was surely going to be a long wait.

And they waited…

And waited…

And waited…

Several hours passed and there was still nothing. At some point during both Fitz and Rose had fallen asleep. Ward and Jack were now both on their third cup of Coffee. Jemma was reading something on her tablet to keep her mind occupied. May sat in the arm chair fiddling with her hands. Coulson was still on the phone trying to get through to Director Fury. The Doctor leant against the wall and was reciting random facts in his head. Anything to keep him occupied and to keep his mind off of Samantha and Skye’s current situation.

Finally one of the scrub wearing doctors that had taken the sisters into surgery appeared. Jemma nudges Fitz awake while Jack does the same for Rose. They all looked expectantly at the doctor. 

“How are they?” Coulson asked having hung up when he saw the doctor.

The look on the doctor’s face told them it wasn’t good news. “I’m afraid it’s not good for either of them”, she said solemnly “We resected what we could but…there’s been too much damage”.

Rose grabbed hold of Jack’s hand trying desperately to fight back the tears that threatened to fall. “So what’s next?” Coulson asked.

“We can keep them comfortable, but you’ll need to make a decision on whether or not you want to keep Samantha and Skye on life support”, the doctor replied.

Upon hearing this, the Time Lord pushed himself away from the wall and stormed off. When he reached the TARDIS, he unlocked the door and shoved it open so violently that it banged against the railing that lined the ramp. However, the TARDIS didn’t let out an angry hum at her pilot for being so rough as she could tell that he was extremely upset. The Doctor didn’t know where he was going, all he knew was that he _had_ to let out his anger somehow. The room he ended up in was the kitchen.

He snatched up a cup and threw it against the wall. It shattered. “She. Doesn’t. Deserve. To. Die!” The Doctor shouted throwing a piece of crockery with every word. He picked up another mug and went to throw it when he stopped. The Doctor lowered his arm and stared at it. The mug he’d picked up was cream coloured with the words ‘Can you dig it?’ stamped across one side. On the other side was a picture of a trowel. It was Samantha’s mug that he’d picked up. Tears pricking in his eyes, the Doctor sank down onto the floor cradling the mug in his hands like it was the most precious thing in the world.

“She doesn’t deserve to die”, he whispered. He couldn’t lose Samantha. Not now.  

\------

It was about an hour later when Jack stepped into the TARDIS to look for the missing Time Lord. The scanner flickered to life as he passed it and showed an image of the Doctor sitting on the floor holding a mug. The former Time Agent recognised the room he was in. It was the kitchen and luckily for him, he actually knew his way there despite not being on board the TARDIS that long.

When Jack entered the kitchen, he saw smashed pieces of crockery littered across the floor. The Doctor must’ve heard him enter because he looked up from the mug. “Doctor, I know this is hard….” Jack began.

“Its more than hard”, the Doctor interrupted “she has her whole life ahead of her, she doesn’t deserve to die”.

“I know. Neither of them deserve to die”, Jack said “I actually came to tell you that Coulson is planning on taking them to some trauma center in Bethesda. Apparently it’s where he went after he was severely wounded on a mission”.

“He really thinks taking them there will save them?” the Doctor asked getting to his feet still holding the mug in his hands.

“Yep”, Jack replied “he wanted me to let you know and ask if you wanted to come along”.

The Doctor gave him a look as if to say that it was a dumb question asking if he wanted to come along. Of course he did! If there was a chance that Samantha and Skye could be saved, he definitely wanted in. “Am I supposed to meet them there?” he asked starting towards the door.

“Coulson suggested it would be better if we all arrived together”, Jack replied following after him.

“Ok, where’s the Bus now?” the Doctor questioned. Jack told him exactly where the SHEILD plane was and was surprised when the Time Lord suddenly took off running. Jack chased after him. He had to quickly hold onto something when he reached the console room as the Doctor had already sent the TARDIS into the time vortex. As soon as the shaking stopped, the Time Lord dashed out of the box, Jack close behind.

The pair found the science duo in the lab reading something. “Where’s Coulson?” the Doctor asked them.

“He’s in his office I believe”, Jemma said looking up from the file she’d been studying.

“Is Rose still with Sam?” Jack asked.

Jemma nodded “she hasn’t moved from her side since we got the medical pods on board”, she replied.

“And where are these medical pods?” the Doctor asked. He wanted to see the twins for himself and check on Rose before he talked to Coulson about the trauma center they were heading to.

“I know where they are”, Jack said “come on”. The Doctor followed Jack through a door at the other end of the science lab. They walked a short way before they came across the ‘medical pods’. The Doctor’s hearts clenched seeing Samantha and Skye lying there, very pale with various machines attached to them. Some monitoring their health, others keeping them alive.

In the furthest pod was Rose. She was sitting down by Samantha’s bed looking at her sister sadly but she looked up when the Doctor entered. “Doctor”, she said quietly, her voice trembling as she got up and went over to him. The moment she was close enough, the Time Lord pulled her into a hug.

“It’s going to be ok Rose. The people at the Bethesda trauma center will be able to help Sam and Skye”, the Doctor assured her.

“I hope so”, Rose sniffled “I can’t lose Sammy, Doctor. I just can’t”. The Time Lord rubbed her back as she started to cry. _I can’t lose her either_ he thought looking over Rose’s shoulder at the brunette. He sincerely hoped the people at this trauma center will be able to save Samantha.

\-----------

Coulson looked up from his desk when he heard a knock on his office door “come in”, he called. The sliding door was pulled back and the Doctor entered. “I’m assuming you want to know why we’re taking Sam and Skye to Bethesda”, he guessed as the Time Lord sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

“I do. Jack said you were treated there when you got severely wounded during a mission”, the Doctor said. Coulson got up from behind his desk went over to the door and pulled it shut.

“I wasn’t wounded. I was dead. Stabbed through the heart by Loki”, Coulson said. The Doctor frowned at that.

“If you were dead… how are you here?” the Time Lord asked.

“I’m not entirely sure myself. FitzSimmons are going over my file right now trying to figure it out. All I could understand is that my heart was torn in half and somehow they managed to heal the damaged tissue. And my memories were altered so I wouldn’t remember what I went through”, Coulson explained.

“And you’re hoping that the people at Bethesda can save Sam and Skye like they saved you”, the Doctor said and Coulson nodded.

“Yes, that is what I’m hoping. I’m not going to give up on them Doctor, not when there’s a chance that they can be saved”, Coulson said.

“What can I do to help?” the Doctor asked. He didn’t want to sit around waiting until they got to their destination. He wanted to do something, anything to help.

“You can help FitzSimmons with my file”, Coulson replied. The Doctor nodded, got up and left.

When the Time Lord got back down to the lab, he found FitzSimmons still reading something which he now knew was Coulson’s file. “Coulson asked me to give you a hand with his file”, he said.

“That’s a good idea, you might know what some of these drugs are. I’ve never heard of half of them”, Jemma said and pushed the file over to the Doctor. He picked it up and flipped through it. The more he read, the more worried he got. Some of the things they put Coulson through was horrible and the transcript of the procedures … the agent had begged to die several times. There was no way he was allowing Coulson to subject the sisters to everything he went through, no way. When he voice his opinion about it, FitzSimmons agreed with him.

“But we can’t argue with the results Doctor. He’s walking around”, Fitz added. Jemma looked over at the monitor at the end of the table. It was showing both medical pods.

“Yeah, but at what cost?” she asked “we’ve all read the transcripts. He begged the doctors to let him die”.

“This is different, Skye and Sam are still alive” Fitz pointed out “We have to keep them that way”. The Doctor picked up the file again and started to read through it once more. While he was strongly against putting Sam and Skye through the same stuff that Coulson was put through, Fitz was right. Coulson was alive. _There must be something in here that can help_ he thought carefully reading each page. There had to be something, anything they could give the twins that could help heal their wounds without putting them through all those procedures.

Jemma pulls her phone out of her back pocket when she heard it vibrate. “I’ve asked Dr. Streiten to advise us”, Jemma said “He’s the doctor who operated on Coulson”, she added for the Doctor’s benefit. Jemma answered the phone, putting it to her ear. “Hello?” Jemma said before smiling at something the person on the other end said “Yes” she listened to something for a moment and her smile faded “Are you sure? That can’t be”.

“What’s wrong Jemma?” Fitz asked as Jemma hung up.

“Dr. Steiten’s gone off the grid”, she replied “in fact, Coulson was never treated at Bethesda”.

The Doctor frowned at that “what do you mean he wasn’t treated there?” he asked “his file says he was”.

“His file is also classified as level 10. The only person with a clearance level high enough is…”

“Director Fury”, Fitz finished.

“But why put false information into the file?” the Doctor questioned. Trying to ignore the ache in his hearts when he was told that they weren’t going to the right place to save Sam and Skye.

“Director Fury must’ve had his reasons”, Fitz replied. The Doctor looked down at the file in his hands.

“I’m not giving up, there has to be something in here”, he said before continuing where he left off.  FitzSimmons exchanged looks, they could understand him not wanting to give up. Samantha was someone he cared about after all. 


	33. GH-325

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also based off the episode: T.A.H.I.T.I

The Doctor rubbed his face as he walked back to the medical pods. He’d decided to check on Samantha and Skye and well… there was only so many times he could read Coulson’s file. That didn’t mean he was going to give up though. Samantha and Skye’s lives where on the line. He _couldn’t_ give up. He entered Samantha’s medical pod which was empty, save the brunette in the bed. _Jack must’ve convinced Rose to rest or something_ he thought coming to a stop by the bed. The Doctor looked down at Samantha. “We’ll find a way to save you and Skye, I promise”, he vowed “I’m not losing you Sammy. I can’t”.

Meanwhile in Coulson’s office, he, Jemma and May were discussing what the scientist had discovered. “Quinn shot Skye for nothing” May stated “The place we were going, the doctors who treated you, they don’t exist”. She’d found all this out when she went to the lab to get an update from FitzSimmons. It was safe to say she was angry about it, even if it didn’t show on her face.

“Or maybe they exist somewhere else”, Coulson suggested “This is SHIELD, there are always secrets”.

“That’s my fear, sir”, Jemma said “Your file is filled with secrets: experimental drugs, unknown surgical procedures we’ve never even heard of. Frankly Fitz and I only understand about 70% of what’s in there. The Doctor filled in some of the gaps but he wasn’t really happy about what he read”.

“Even if we do find where they treated you and we were able to replicate the procedure, there’s the other obvious question”, May added.

“Which is?” Coulson asked.

“Whether we should”, Jemma replied bluntly. That earned her a sharp glare from her boss “What you experienced, sir, if this file is even partially accurate –“ she was unable to finish her sentence as Coulson cut her off.

“No one’s suggesting that we submit Skye and Sam to everything that I went through, but if there’s something in here, a drug, a treatment that can save them, we need to find it. Figure it out”, he said in a tone that told Jemma not to argue.

“Yes, sir”, Jemma said. She cast a look at May before leaving Coulson’s office.

“You disagree”, Coulson stated looking at Agent May.

“No”, May said “I think we need to do everything humanly possible to save Skye and Sam. But we need to acknowledge that doing so might give the Clairvoyant exactly what he wants”.

“It’s a risk we have to take”, Coulson said. May sighed deeply but didn’t say anything.

\-------------

“How are they?” Fitz asked as he walked up to where Jemma sat outside Skye’s medical pod. She was once again looking through Coulson’s file.

“Deteriorating, and I don’t know how to stop it”, Jemma replied “The only thing I found remotely interesting is something called “GH-325”.

“Some kind of drug?” Fitz asked.

“Agent Coulson was injected with that and literally minutes later his wounds showed signs of cellular regeneration”, Jemma answered looking at the file.

“I know that Time Lords can regenerate but a drug that can do something similar, it that even possible?” Fitz questioned. The Doctor had told them all about his species including the process that they go through when they’re severely injured or dying. It had fascinated both scientists.

“Even if this miracle drug does exist we don’t know where to find it. We have no coordinates, no logs of anyone’s departure or arrival”, Jemma said sounding defeated.

“I think maybe I can help with that”, Fitz said. He touched her on the shoulder and walked away. Jemma stood up and started to walk away when she heard a sudden rapid beeping and the Doctor shouting. She spun around, raced past Skye’s medical pod to Samantha’s one.

“She’s coding Jemma!” the Time Lord shouted with his hands on Samantha’s shoulders to stop her from convulsing. Jemma went over to a table where a few syringes of Epinephrine sat. She snatched one up, rushed back over to Samantha and stuck the needle in her abdomen. The Doctor let go of Samantha’s shoulders when she stopped moving. They watched Samantha’s vitals improve but not by much. The pair knew there was a chance it could happen again. “Thanks”, the Doctor said, his hearts still racing from his sudden scare.

“You’re welcome. I think I may have found something promising in Coulson’s file.  There’s a drug: GH-235. It seemed to enable cellular regeneration in Coulson’s wound when he was injected with it”, Jemma said.

 _GH235…_ The Doctor vaguely remembered reading about that in the file but he admittedly hadn’t taken too much notice. “You think it could help Sam and Skye?” he asked with a hopeful tone in his voice.

“It’s entirely possible”, Jemma replied “will you be ok here by yourself? I need to head to the lab”.

“I’ll be fine Jemma”, the Doctor assured her. Jemma nodded and left. The moment she’d gone, he shakily sat down in the chair. He really hoped Samantha didn’t code again because his hearts wouldn’t be able to take it.

When Jemma got back to the lab, she saw that four metal poles had been set up in a square in the cargo hold of the Bus right next to the TARDIS. “You’ve set up the Echo Chamber?” she asked walking out to stand next to Fitz.

“Yep”, he replied “I made a couple of calls. A buddy of mine works in the archives at the Triskelion” Fitz typed something on his table and a blue hologram cube appeared in the Echo Chamber “He agreed to let us access it from here”. The pair walk up to the blue cube “Hard to believe, but this cube contains all of S.H.E.I.L.D.’s historical administrative data”, Fitz said pointing at it.

“Yeah, but if Agent Coulson’s operation didn’t take place at a S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility – “ Jemma began when Fitz cut her off with

“We won’t find any records of it here, I know. But this also contains all interoffice memos, travel arrangements, purchase orders. Maybe we can track down the location through a virtual paper trail of some sort or another”

“Yeah”, Jemma said nodding in agreement. Fitz touches the bottom of the cube, it opens and sends hundreds of file flying all around the Echo Chamber. Jemma sighed seeing how many files they’ve got to go through. “Well, let’s start with the travel memoranda from the date Coulson got stabbed”, she suggested, reaching out with both hands and pulled hard. Columns of files go flying past the pair.

When the files stop moving, they didn’t see anything useful. “Or, um, what about Dr. Streiten’s departure from the Triskelion?” Fitz suggested “Maybe they have that”.

“Yeah”, Jemma agreed. The pair spent the next several minutes moving files around, opening some and having a read before either closing them or passing them off to each other.

“Here. This is interesting”, Fitz said and showed Jemma the file he was reading.

“A World War II bunker?” Jemma asked reading the file.

“’Collapsed’ bunker”, Fitz corrected her. He used his fingers to highlight a section of the report “Definitely not a sanctioned S.H.I.E.L.D. facility”, he said.

“’The Guest House’?” Simmons read aloud.

“Exactly. Guest House. GH. GH-325”, Fitz said. Jemma looked at him with an expression on her face which said that she was understanding where he was going with this. Look at the file’s access history”, Fitz instructed. Jemma brought it up and saw that the only record of it being opened was by Director Fury.

“Fury’s been to this place and he’s the person who sanctioned the operations on Agent Coulson….” Jemma glanced at Fitz “and why aren’t you trying to find the file?”

She collapsed the file and throws it away. Fitz reached up into the program, scrolled through some files and picks one out. He pulled it out and opened it. A wall of random letters and number appear before them. “Oh, damn. Encrypted”, Jemma grumbled “Skye could crack this”.

“What would she do?” Fitz asked. He stared at it for a moment before holding his hands up to the ‘wall’ and pushed it away from himself and Jemma. The ‘wall’ of numbers and letters expanded almost filling up the entire cargo hold. “It’s not an encryption”, he said, reaching up and turned the ‘wall’ on its side. Jemma smiled seeing that it wasn’t a ‘wall’ of random numbers and letters at all. It was the location of the Guest House. It didn’t take them long to pinpoint exactly where the Guest House was and after telling Coulson about their discovery, they were soon on their way to the facility.

Coulson stopped by Samantha’s medical pod to give the Doctor, Jack and a now awake Rose the good news. “Do you need anyone else on the mission?” Jack asked wanting to help anyway he can.

“It would be best if you stay here. Simmons is going to need all the help she can get to prepare Sam and Skye so that they can be moved to the facility”, Coulson replied. Although he was disappointed that he wasn’t allowed to go, Jack nodded. Rose glanced at her adopted sister feeling much more hopeful than she did a few hours ago. _Just hold on a little longer Sammy_.

\---------------------

Jemma sighed as she stood outside Skye’s pod, looking in at her teammate. “Tough when it’s your team”, Agent Triplett remarked coming to stand beside her. He’d chosen to stay behind while his SO, Agent Garrett went with Coulson, Ward and Fitz to the Guest House. He and Garrett were only supposed to be there to pick up Quinn to transport him to the Fridge, a SHEILD prison. But since Coulson refused to let Quinn go on the account of the twin’s critical condition, he and Garrett came to an agreement to keep Quinn on the plane just for as long as it took to save Sam and Skye. “You guys go back a ways?” Triplett asked Jemma.

“Not really, I’ve only known Skye for about a year. And Sam I’ve known for just a bit longer. The three of us have nothing in common, couldn’t be more different”, Jemma said honestly.

“But you can’t imagine your life without either of them”, Triplett said.

Jemma looked up at him “Yes. You’ve experienced that, Agent Triplett?” she asked.

“I have”, Triplett replied “Sometimes, a person takes you by surprise”.

“Yeah”, Jemma agreed looking back at the window of Skye’s medical pod.

“They’re both very lucky to have you”, Triplett commented “I know anything bad ever happens to me, hope you’re in my corner, too”. Jemma looked up at up him again as May walked up to them.

“Comms are down”, she told them “If I don’t hear anything within the hour, I’m going after them”.

Jemma nods, understanding. Suddenly there is a rapid beeping noise from Skye’s pod drawing their attention. Jemma rushed into the pod “Skye’s coding. Both of you, now!” she shouted.

“How can we help?” May asked as Jemma does chest compressions on Skye.

“I need a unit of Epi”, Jemma replied.

“Got it”, Triplett said picking up a syringe. He stuck it into Skye’s abdomen as Jemma continues chest compressions.

“Jemma is she gonna make it?” Rose asked worriedly from the doorway. She, Jack and the Doctor had heard the alarms and came running.

“I don’t know. She’s barely holding on Rose”, Jemma replied.

\---------------

Jemma looked at Skye’s vital signs worriedly. It wasn’t looking good for her nor for Samantha. Over the last several minutes both sisters had nearly flat-lined at least twice. Jack had to take Rose out of Samantha’s medical pod as she looked like she was going to pass out every time her adopted sister’s vitals went critical. “Weak, erratic heart rate. Each time we save them I ask myself, ‘is this what Skye and Sam would want’?” Jemma said.

May looked over at Jemma “We didn’t come this far to quit”, she said. Suddenly they heard Fitz’s voice over the intercoms, though it wasn’t very clear.

“Get of – the ground immediately”

“They’re alive. Maybe we can – “ Jemma was abruptly cut off when Skye suddenly started to flat line again. As she and Triplett acted on keeping her alive, May rushed out of the medical pod.

Several minutes later Fitz rushed in “We found it”, he said holding out a vial. Jemma took it from him and he ran out of the pod, darting into Samantha’s one. “Doctor, we found the GH 235”, he said holding out a second vial. The Time Lord wasted no time taking it from him, putting the entire contents into a syringe before injecting the whole lot into Samantha’s arm.

“Come on Sammy”, he muttered watching the monitor intently along with Fitz. A smile appeared on his face as her vitals started to improve. It quickly disappeared when Samantha suddenly took a huge gasping breath, her back arching as she did so. The monitor started beeping rapidly as the brunette’s vitals got too high.

“She’s spiking!” Fitz exclaimed. The Doctor had to pin Samantha to the bed as her back arched even more. They suddenly heard the rest of the team shouting in Skye’s pod causing Fitz to rush out. The Doctor stayed put holding Sam down, his hearts hammering wildly.

“Come on Sam, don’t do this to me”, the Doctor almost begged. Samantha suddenly went limp under his hands and the beeping on the monitor slowed down. The Doctor watched her vitals fall to what was considered normal. He breathed out a sigh of relief. The Doctor looked down at Samantha and placed a gentle hand on her cheek “way to go Sammy”, he said softly.


	34. Yes Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title explains the episode its based on

Samantha stared up at the ceiling of her medical pod extremely bored. It had been two days since she and her sister had woken up after being given the drug that had saved both of their lives. She felt a heck of a lot better which is saying something considering she had been shot in the stomach. Twice. And yet she was still stuck in the pod, on bed rest. Samantha glanced at the door. It couldn’t hurt to get out of bed for a few minutes. Just to stretch her legs.

Samantha slowly sat up, pulling the cover off of herself and carefully swung her feet around to the side of the bed. The brunette was about to stand up when Jemma suddenly appeared at the window of the pod, tapping on the glass. “No! What did I say?” the biochemist said before she opened the door and stepped in “I told you that you’re on bed rest until I say otherwise”.

“Jemma, I’ve stayed in bed the past couple of days. I just wanted to stretch my legs for two minutes”, Samantha told her.

“Doesn’t matter. You are supposed to be resting”, Jemma shot back. Samantha sighed but she did as she was told.

“I don’t see why I need to still be resting Jem”, Samantha said as Jemma pulled the covers back over her “there’s colour in my cheeks and I’m breathing without feeling like my whole body’s on fire. I’m good. Honestly”. 

Jemma chuckled “you and your sister are as bad as each other. She said similar to me a minute ago”, she said “and ‘good’ is not what the word I’d use for your state. You’ve been shot twice, had your stomach perforated, and a breathing tube shoved down your throat. “Better” is a more accurate word”.

Jemma puts a vial into a port on Samantha’s arm, drawing out some blood. “Again with the blood drive?” she asked “I’m not gonna have anything left”. The young woman was starting to get a little suspicious with the number of blood samples Jemma was taking from her. “Not sure how I feel about Dr. Simmons. She’s so strict”, Samantha continued “and pokey”.

“Well patient Sam isn’t exactly a model patient if she wants to ignore her doctor’s orders”, Jemma lightly countered.

“That may be but I’m grateful” Samantha gives her a smile “I hope you know that”.

“I didn’t do it alone Sammy”.

“Still, I’m the most…”grateful-est-est” patient alive”, Samantha said and Jemma makes a face at that.

“That’s…not even a word”, she said though she was slightly amused by it.

Behind them, the Doctor appeared in the doorway and knocked, getting their attention. “This a bad time?” he asked.

“It is if you’re here to bust me out”, Samantha replied. She then dropped back into her original British accent “The warden has extended house arrest”.

“That’s a better impression than what Skye did”, Jemma remarked.

“Well I have lived in England my whole life Jemma”, Samantha reminded her, her voice now sounding a bit more like Skye’s. A by-product of spending a little over a year with her twin.

“True”, Jemma conceded “I’ll leave you two to chat. Maybe you can keep her in that bed Doctor” and with that, she left.

“Be honest, how bad do I look?” Samantha asked “Jemma won’t even bring me a mirror”.

“You look fine”, the Doctor replied walking over and sitting down in the chair.

“Liar”, Samantha said, not believing him. She then noticed how tired he looked “you look like you need this bed more than I do”, she remarked “maybe you should go get some rest”.

“I can’t. Not until I know you’re ok”, the Doctor said. Even though he could see she was looking a lot better, he still didn’t feel right about getting some sleep. What if something happened while he was resting? He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. He would get some sleep as soon as Jemma says that she’s well enough to leave the medical pod. Until then, he would occupy his time with doing repairs to the TARDIS and keeping Samantha company.

“Doctor, I know I’ve said this already but… I really am sorry for what happened. Skye and I should never have gone in there by ourselves. It was so stupid”, Samantha said.

“You shouldn’t beat yourself up over it Sam”, Ward’s voice spoke up. Samantha looked over at the doorway to see her SO standing there “You and Skye were brave. Thanks to you, every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the country knows Mike Peterson’s alive”.

“You tell them about his magic leg?” Samantha asked.

“I didn’t call it that, but yes”, Ward replied entering the medical pod, coming to stand next to the Doctor’s chair “Agent Garrett’s running point on Mike. Thinks he’s part of some project called Deathlok”.

“He looked like death”, Samantha said “You should have…he wouldn’t even look at me. They did something to him. He needs help”.

A flash of an upset expression briefly appeared on Ward’s face “He’s past help”, he stated “He was there with you and Skye. He could have protected you both. _He_ let this happen. And I’ll never forgive that”.

“Well, I –I need to better protect myself, so…when Simmons gives me the all clear we’ll start training again?”

Ward smiles and nods. “We’ll ease you back into it”, he said.

Samantha shook her head “No. I want to train harder”, she said.

“Sam I’m not sure that’s a good idea”, the Doctor said. He was all for her going back into training so she could learn to protect herself better but it didn’t seem like the best idea for her to push herself so soon.

“I need to train harder Doctor. Next time I don’t want to depend on some miracle drug to save me”, Samantha stated. She’d been lucky that there was a ‘miracle’ drug out there that was able to save hers and Skye’s life. But next time she might not be so lucky. She _had_ to train harder, to be better. So she could protect herself; protect Skye and Rose. Eventually Ward had to leave on account of being called to a meeting by May.

~planning room~

May, Ward and FitzSimmons stand around the table. “New orders. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s detecting massive energy readings in the skies above the California/Nevada border”, May said.

“Where’s Agent Coulson?” Ward asked.

“Taking personal time”, May replied.

“That’s a couple days straight”, Ward commented earning a look from May.

“These are the same readings Dr. Selvig and Dr. Foster picked up in New Mexico and in London”, Jemma stated looking at the information on the table “They herald the arrival of an Asgardian”.

Fitz’s mouth drops open in shock and he looks at the others excitedly. “Thor”, he said.

“Not sure”, May said not wanting to jump to any conclusions “Either way, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants us to be the Welcome Wagon”.

“O-okay. Fine. No cause for concern, right?” Fitz points at War “Asgardians are allies”.

“Loki wasn’t”, Ward deadpanned and with that he walked out of the room.

\-----------------

It turned out that the Asguardian was none other than Lady Sif. She’d come to Earth to hunt down another of her people, Lorelai who’d escaped prison. The woman in question had the power to command men through her voice and touch. The SHEILD team managed track Lorelai down to a biker bar called Rosie’s Desert Oasis. Unfortunately when they went to confront the rogue Asguardian, Ward was put under Lorelai’s ‘spell’.

It was safe to say that neither sister was pleased to hear that their SO had gone walkabout with the person they were hunting. “So, Ward’s what? Like, a pod person?” Skye asked.

Coulson shook his head “No, according to Lady Sif, the men Lorelei controls don’t forget who they are or what they know. She just becomes the embodiment of all their desires”, he explained.

Fitz, who was in the medical pod, scoffed at this. Jack who was also present looked highly offended too. Neither the Doctor nor Rose was around as one was catching up with their mother and the other was getting some sleep. Well… Samantha had practically ordered the Time Lord to get some rest. She’d even gone as far to threaten to use her ICER on him if he wouldn’t go. Thankfully he did without protest.

“So once we find them we can break her mojo or whatever and get Ward back, right?” Samantha asked hopeful.

“Yes”, Coulson replied “Once the collar’s back on Lorelei’s neck the enchantment ends, but that’s the problem. The collar caught a shotgun blast back in the desert”. He hands the damaged collar to Fitz. “You think you can fix it?” he asked.

Fitz takes the collar looking at it “Well…the metal, the weight, it’s similar to the Berserker staff”, he stated.

“But it presents with its own set of countless unknown variables”, Jemma put in.

Coulson shrugs “Got a couple of hours”, he said.

“Yeah”, Fitz said knowing the agent was going to say something like that. And so he leaves the pod to start work on fixing the collar.

“What can we do?” Samantha piped up.

“And don’t you dare say nothing or tell us to sit down here and count ceiling tiles while Ward is missing”, Skye added giving Coulson a look.

“Ward’s got drop boxes and storage lockers all over the world. They’re filled with currency, weapons, I.D.s. He’s gonna use aliases, cash, anything to keep Lorelei off the radar. You’re the best radar we have Skye. Find them”, Coulson ordered. He left the medical pod, Jemma quickly following after him.

Skye immediately got to work on her laptop. Samantha picked up the small tablet that was next to her and started typing away. Jack moved to stand by her while she worked in case he spotted something she missed or if she needed any help.

It was a couple of hours later when Skye cheered. She’d found Ward and Lorelai! “You found them?” Samantha asked looking up from the tablet.

“Yep”, Skye said popping the p “if that woman is looking for an army of wealthy, pliable men…she’s just found the jackpot”. She turns the laptop around to show Jack and Samantha.

“Of course La Vegas”, Samantha muttered. That was the perfect place for Lorelai to build up an army.

A few hours later…

Samantha, Skye, Rose and Jemma look up at the ceiling in confusion. They could hear the distinct sounds of the Bus’ engines and a sort of pounding noise “We’re taking off. Why are we taking off?” Jemma asked.

“And what is that pounding?” Skye questioned.

“I’ll go and investigate”, Jemma said to the twins, setting her tablet down on the bed “You two…”

“Stay put”, Samantha interrupted “We know Jem”.

Jemma went over to the door and tried to open it but found it was locked. She turned to the twins and Rose. “Someone locked us in”, she stated.

Samantha got up from the chair and went over to the door. “Step back Jemma”, she said raising her hand. The brunette closed her eyes and concentrated. She’d never tried to make the time vortex appear at will before, usually it just appeared whenever she was in trouble.

The British scientist backed away as Samantha’s hand started to glow with a golden light. Then the glass in the door shattered. “You three stay here, _I’ll_ go check it out”, Samantha told them, giving Rose a very firm look before she stepped through the broken door.

She made her way to the lab and entered, ducking when a fist was swung at her. “Jack?” Samantha said in surprise, dodging another blow “What is wrong with you?”

“Lorelai doesn’t want you getting in the way”, Jack replied “told me to do whatever was necessary to keep you here”.

“Of course she did”, the brunette muttered. She should’ve known that the woman had gotten to Jack as well as Ward. “Jack, you have to fight this. I don’t want to hurt you”, Samantha said blocking a blow with her arm.

“I highly doubt you can hurt me Samantha”, Jack smirked.

“Well I guess you forgot that right hook I gave you in 1940”, Samantha said “looks like I’ll have to remind you”. And then she attacked. Samantha had to be careful not to hurt the American too much as it wasn’t his fault. He was forced to fight her thanks to Lorelai’s control.

 In the end the American was on the floor having been smacked across the face by a metal tray Samantha had grabbed. “Sorry Jack”, she said. Her head snapped up, tightening her grip on the tray when she heard running footsteps. The Doctor and Coulson appeared. “Are you two…you?” she asked preparing to fight them both if she had to.

“Yes, we are”, Coulson assured her. Suddenly Jemma and Rose appeared quickly followed by Fitz who was knocked out by Coulson.

Eventually Sif had subdued Lorelai and got the collar back on her, breaking the spell she had over Jack, Ward and Fitz.

~Skye’s med pod~

Coulson looked at the twins who were sitting on Skye’s bed and sighed heavily. He’d been trying to figure out the best way to tell them _where_ the miracle drug that had saved their lives had actually come from all day. But after everything that had happened, he decided to just tell them the best way he could.

“I’ve been looking for a way to tell you both this, looking around for some answers, something to help…explain…” Coulson sighed again “But I don’t have any. So…the drug, the one that saved us all– when we found it I discovered something else. Its source. It was…alien”.

Skye raised her eyebrows while Samantha stared at him, mouth slightly open in shock. “A-alien. As in…unfamiliar?” Skye asked carefully.

Coulson shook his head “No”, he replied.

“Oh my god”, Samantha breathed. They were injected with something created from an alien.

“The minute I learned what it was, I tried to keep them from injecting you with it, but I was too late for the both of you. I’m so sorry”, Coulson said, the guilt clear on his face.

“Coulson you were trying to save our lives”, Skye said “You _did_ save our lives”.

“I was desperate to, and so I subjected you to unknown ramifications or side effects”, Coulson told them.

“So?” Samantha asked “We are alive. And you’ve had that stuff in you for…uh, some time now, and you’re okay, right?” 

“She’s got a point there”, Skye agreed.

“I know nothing hardly phases either of you, but this _should_. We are completely in the dark on this”, Coulson said trying to get the pair to understand.

“That’s where we live”, Skye pointed out.

“And we’re both 0-8-4’s”, Samantha stated “Who knows what the hell that means? At least the three of us are in the dark together”.

Coulson nodded “Yes”, he agreed “But not for long. To hell with any protocols or any code I used to be bound by. We have a long list of questions that we need answers for, and we’re going to go after them ourselves”.

“Well, if the team’s up for it – “ Skye began when Coulson cut in.

“No. No, listen to me. I trust them, but we need to protect them from this. Fury went to dangerous lengths to keep this under wraps – lied to me, lied to S.H.I.E.L.D. This is a powerful secret, a secret men died for. Until we know why, we can’t share this with anyone, for their safety and ours”

Skye and Samantha exchanged looks. Both of them knew that he was absolutely right. Samantha knew it wasn’t going to be easy keeping this from the team, the Doctor, Rose and Jack but they had to.

“So, what’ll be, A.C.?” Skye asked “What do we go after first?”

“The person responsible for this”, Coulson replied gesturing at both their abdomen’s “And we make him pay”.


	35. End of the beginning part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title explains the episode its based on

Four days later…

The Doctor watched from the doorway as Samantha and Rose sat on the bed in Samantha’s med pod talking to Jackie on the phone. Rose had told Jackie about Samantha’s ‘accident’ and so the older Tyler had been calling at least once the past four days to see how her adoptive daughter was.

The Time Lord glanced behind him when he heard someone approach. It was Jemma and she was carrying tray with the correct implements to take blood. The scientist stood by the Doctor and waited for the sisters to be finished with their call. It wasn’t long as Samantha noticed Jemma standing next to the Doctor. “Uh mum? Rose and I have got to go. We’ll call you tomorrow ok?” Samantha said into the phone.

“ _Ok, sweethearts. Take it easy Sammy_ ”, Jackie said, her voice coming over the speaker.

“I will mum”, Samantha promised.

“ _Love you both!_ ” Jackie called.

“Love you too mum!” Rose and Samantha chorused. They said their farewells to Jackie before hanging up.

“Is it that time again already?” Samantha asked jokingly.

“’Fraid so Sam”, Jemma answered. Rose hopped off the bed so Jemma could take a vial of Samantha’s blood.

“You know, this is kinda pointless Jem”, Samantha remarked wincing slightly as Jemma stuck the needle into the vein in the crook of her elbow “I feel fine. How much blood are you gonna draw before you believe me?”

“Your recovery, it’s honestly, quite remarkable”, Jemma said carefully pulling the vial out and stoppering it “We know Coulson had a very different recovery experience, so we understand why he’s hesitant about sharing our findings with others”.

“Yeah, but something like this drug, it needs to be studied. It has the potential to save so many lives”, Fitz added from the doorway of the med pod. The Doctor had been a little startled by his sudden appearance as he’d been distracted by Jemma and Samantha.

“We’d like to send a blood sample of yours to some colleagues to do a molecular breakdown. Skye wasn’t willing to talk to Coulson but maybe you co-“

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea”, Samantha cut in. Coulson didn’t want anyone else to know about the drug, especially since it was sourced from an alien. “If Coulson thinks it’s important that this stays between us, then we should keep it between us”.

Before Fitz-Simmons could say anything, the glass door to the med pod slid open and Ward stepped in. “Sam, you’re needed upstairs”, he said “Top brass wants to see you”. Samantha gave her retreating SO a confused look. Why the did the ‘top brass’ want to see her? Was it to do with Skye’s operation to find candidates who could be the mysterious Clairvoyant?

She glanced at Fitz-Simmons “you better get up there”, Jemma suggested “they don’t particularly like to be kept waiting”. Samantha nodded an hopped out of bed. She quickly left the med pod and made her way to the stairs in the cargo bay.

“Sorry Doctor, you and Rose need to stay here”, Ward said when the Doctor made to follow after Samantha “this meeting is for SHIELD Agents only”.

Samantha passed through the cargo bay just as Jack exited the TARDIS. “Where are you off to?” he asked.

“Upstairs”, she answered “apparently some of the higher ups wanna see me”.

Jack gave her a sympathetic look “good luck”, he said.

“Thanks”, Samantha said. She walked upstairs and into the ‘living room’ where several agents and Skye were waiting. She apologised for keeping them waiting and the meeting began.

“Pairing off makes total sense”, Skye agreed “Just one thought though, what if we make it a double blind?”

“How so?” Agent Victoria Hand asked.

“Well, I‘ll give one person from each team the potential Clairvoyant’s coordinates and I’ll give the other one the identity”, Skye explained.

“That’ll ensure that no one person knows the full specs of the op until you get there”, Samantha finished. Coulson gave the twins a proud smile while Garret gives them a big grin.

“I like how you two think”, he remarked. Garret glanced at the other agents gathered “I like how they think”.

“One question, how am I supposed to access all the classified files without someone in the room?” Skye questioned “I don’t have clearance”. She knew Samantha didn’t have clearance to access the files either because SHEILD had classed her as a consultant. And she still was one now even though her sister had gone above and beyond her consultant status for Coulson and the team.

“Now you do”, Coulson held out a leather wallet to Skye, the SHIELD logo stamped on the front. He held out a second one to Samantha “both of you”. The twins shared excited glances before taking their badges from their boss. “Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D., Skye” he looked at Samantha “Sam, I know I’ve welcomed you already…but welcome to SHEILD Agent Samantha Tyler”.

Samantha opened up the wallet and smiled at the silver SHIELD badge inside. She glanced up at Coulson “Thank you Coulson”, she said sincerely.

“Don’t thank me”, Coulson said “You both passed every required SHIELD exam with flying colours”.

“For a level 1 agent”, Victoria muttered. Garret shoots her a look, having heard this.

“You’ve assisted us on multiple field missions, put your life on the line. You earned this”, Coulson continued.

“Hell, you both were shot in the gut. More than Sitwell here’s ever done”, Garret added. Sitwell looks away from Garrett rolling his eyes a bit.

“Okay, everyone. Back to work”, Coulson said. Agents Victoria Hand and Blake parted without saying a word. Garret bid both sisters another congratulations. May walked past the pair, patting them both on the arm as she passed.

“Congratulations, Skye! Sammy!” Jemma said happily from behind the sisters. Samantha and Skye turned to see the science duo standing there.

Jemma, Samantha and Skye hugged each other happily. “Congratulations you two”, Fitz said.

Samantha glanced at him “thanks Fitz”, she said giving him a small smile. Once Fitz-Simmons had parted ways with the sisters, Ward stepped up to them.

“We couldn’t have done it without a great and very patient S.O”, Skye said.

“Yeah, you could have. I’m not clairvoyant, but I do believe some things are meant to be”, Ward countered. He gave Skye’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before walking away.

“Where are you off to?” Skye asked as Samantha started to walk away. Samantha turned back.

“To tell Rosie, Jack and the Doctor”, she answered. She then headed back to the Cargo Bay where the Doctor, Jack and Rose were waiting.

“What did your higher ups want?” Jack asked.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you”, Samantha replied “But I can say that I’m finally a proper SHIELD Agent”. She showed them all the badge.

“Congrats sis”, Rose said giving her a hug.

“Thanks Rosie”, Samantha said.

“So does that mean you’re even more of a bad ass Sammy?” Jack asked.

“Jack I don’t need a SHIELD badge to be a bad ass”, Samantha answered “case in point, my scar” she gestured to it “Wasn’t an actual SHIELD agent when Gwen and I tag teamed a Xenomorph or when we and Lex took down the Queen. Thus earning the mark making all of us honorary Yautja warriors. The first time any human has received it, may I add”.

The Doctor moved over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. “I’m still very proud of you for that”, he murmured, kissing her temple.

“You weren’t so bad yourself Doctor”, Samantha said “wouldn’t have gotten through it without you being there”.

Rose averted her gaze when Samantha kissed him. “Maybe you guys could do that some place else”, she suggested.

“I thought you were ok with it Rose?” Samantha asked.

Rose looked at her adoptive sister “I am ok with it Sammy. Doesn’t mean I want to see the two of you kissing in front me and Jack”, she said.

Jack shrugged “doesn’t bother me”, he said “I’m from the 51st century” he added when Rose gave him an astonished look.

“You do have a good point Rose”, Samantha agreed. She glanced at the Doctor “Want to pop into the TARDIS?”

“Sure”, the Doctor replied. He took her hand and they walked over to the TARDIS.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation on the AOS episode: the end of the beginning

“I like this”, Samantha murmured as she lay on top of the Doctor. The Time Lord was stretched out on one of the comfy red sofa’s in the Library, where they’d ended up having their ‘little’ make out session.

“Me too”, the Doctor agreed. After everything he’d done in the war, he never expected to find a shred of happiness or contentment. But here he was relaxing with a beautiful brunette in his arms. Suddenly, Samantha’s started to ring.

“I better get that”, she said, reaching down and grabbing it from the floor. Samantha hit the answer button “Skye”, she greeted. The Doctor watched as the expression on her face turned to shock “oh my god…” she breathed “yeah…I’ll join you guys there”.

“What’s wrong?” the Doctor asked getting up from the sofa.

“Agent Blake was just viciously attacked”, Samantha answered “Coulson wants me to meet them in the lab, discuss the guy May and Blake were looking for”. She shoved her phone into her pocket “I’ll be back as soon as I can”, she promised and gave him a quick kiss before she left the Library.

\-------------

“Alright, what do we have on Nash?” Samantha asked, entering the lab.

“Well, according to Index archives Nash has been on SHIELD’s radar for about six years”, Skye replied, consulting her tablet “Originally a bond trader in Canada doing very well for himself. Then the Canadian government recruited him to a secret department H-type program”.

“They were looking for people with psychic abilities”, May stated.

“Specifically people who could control human behaviour, and Nash claimed he had a gift”, Skye told her.

Samantha frowned “Claimed?” she asked.

“Judging by these records he couldn’t affect a person’s behaviour. But he could, on occasion, predict it”, Skye explained.

“Sounds like Nash was a fake”, Samantha remarked.

“Not necessarily”, Coulson said “some psychics are more gifted than others. But SHIELD crossed him off The Index after his accident because of his supposed catatonic state”. He nodded to the monitor in the lab where details of the accident was displayed.

“Which he recovered from quite nicely”, Skye added.

“It was all a lie, just to throw SHIELD off his scent”, Coulson said bitterly. He glanced at May “You said Blake fired how many rounds?” he asked.

“I heard six”, May replied “Why?”

“Because there are only five missing from this magazine”, Coulson said holding it up. He sets it down and picks up the second magazine “And one from here. These are Fitz’s tag rounds”. 

“We can track him”, Skye stated.

“Skye, Sam, check all the sat feeds find that signal”, Coulson ordered.

“You got it”, Samantha said going over to one of the computers and sat down. Skye wandered over with her tablet and the two sisters got to work tracking down Mike Peterson aka Deathlok.

“I’ll get us in the air”, May said and proceeded to head to the cockpit.

It took the twins a while but eventually they managed to find Mike at a racetrack in Pensacola, Florida.

\------------------

“Sammy, please sit down”, Skye said noticing her sister pacing around the van for the third time.

“I should be helping”, Samantha muttered.

“You know why they don’t want either of us in the field”, Skye said.

Samantha sighed “yeah, I know. We got shot. I guess I’m getting a little stir crazy from being stuck in the Bus for so long”, she admitted.

“You and me both, sister”, Skye said. She turned back to the laptop and none too soon as a figure appeared on the screen.

“Who is that?” Samantha asked peering over her shoulder.

“Not sure”, Skye answered. She turned on the microphone on her laptop so she could speak to the rest of the team “Guys, the northwest corridor is getting something. I’m pulling up a live feed”. Both Skye and Samantha frowned at the dark red figure on the screen.

“I can’t tell if that’s Mike”, Samantha said “Skye?”

Skye shook her head “No, I can’t either”, she replied “Initiating spectrum overlay”. The picture changed to greyscale and the twins saw what exactly Mike’s captors had done to him. And they were horrified.

“Oh my god”, Samantha breathed.

“What the hell did they do to him?” Skye asked as Mike turned towards the probe that they were watching the feed through, giving them a good look at his glowing red cybernetic eye.

 _: What are you seeing? :_ Coulson questioned.

“It’s not just his leg or his eye”, Skye answered “They did stuff to him, it’s all under his skin”.

They watched as Mike swatted the probe, cutting off the feed to the laptop. “Damn it”, Skye cursed and began to type, searching for another nearby probe to get eyes on the operation.

Suddenly Samantha and Skye heard Ward shout “Contact! Take cover!”

This was followed by two explosions and a volley of gunfire. “Ward, are you okay?” Samantha asked.  

 _: Uh, I got two men down :_ Ward answered _:  We need a med team! :_

“Requesting one now”, Skye said “May, he’s coming your way” she added as the feed jumped to life, showing them Mike. She turned to see Samantha grabbing a comm “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m going in”, Samantha replied.

“But – “

“Skye, I’m not letting Mike hurt anyone else”, Samantha cut in “besides I’ve got an edge” she showed her sister a hand which was faintly glowing gold.

Skye sighed “Ok, go” Samantha turned to leave “Sammy” Skye called making her sister turn back “be careful”.

“I will”, Samantha promised. She then left the van.

“Sam, you’re not going in are you?” Fitz asked as he approached the brunette.

“Yes, I am. Don’t try and stop me Fitz”, Samantha said firmly. She walked past him and the Scottish scientist didn’t even try to stop her.

As soon as she entered the building, Samantha got out her ICER. She doubted it would do her any good against Mike what with the way he was ‘armed’ but Ward had trained her to stay sharp. Her eyes darted this way and that as she walked, looking for any sign of Mike, Coulson or anyone else in their team.

The brunette quickly ducked around the corner when she suddenly spotted Mike, hoping he didn’t see her. She relaxed when he ran past, not even looking her way. Samantha stepped out watching as he disappeared into a dark stair well. She started after him when Coulson called out to her.

“Sam? What are you doing here?” Samantha turned to watch her boss walk quickly towards her “I told you to wait in the van”, he said sternly.

“I know. No disrespect Coulson but could you tell me off after we’ve dealt with Mike?” Samantha asked indicating with her head towards the stairwell.

Coulson sighed, knowing she had a point. The longer he spent reprimanding her, more time Mike had to make his escape. “Fine. but stay close to me”, he ordered. Samantha gave him a short nod in agreement. Coulson handed Samantha a spare ear piece which she put securely around her left ear. The pair then headed towards the stairs, weapons at the ready. “All teams, he’s headed into the sub-basement”, Coulson reported through his earpiece “Sam and I do not have a visual. Fitz, do you have a retriever down here?”

 _: No, sir :_ Fitz said and after a moment he added _:On their way :_

“Copy that”, Coulson said before he and Samantha made their way down the stairs. At the bottom was a long corridor. The pair started down the corridor when a golden orb flew over their heads. One of Fitz’s retrievers had arrived.

Samantha and Coulson turn one corner and were about to round another when Garrett suddenly appeared, startling the pair. “Easy. I come in peace”, Garrett said jokingly.  

“How about a signal next time?” Coulson asked. The trio hear a mechanical whir behind them and spin around to see Mike. Coulson wasted no time in shooting him. Mike runs away, Coulson, Samantha and Garrett pursuing.

“Where the heck did he go?” Garrett asked as it seemed as if Mike had disappeared when they rounded the corner.

Samantha’s eyes landed on a ladder nearby. “My guess, he went down”, she said “Fitz, can you see anything?” she asked into her ear piece. She, Coulson and Garrett watched the retriever get closer to the ladder.

_:  Uh, barely. It leads down into the sewer system. That’s under at least…40 feet of concrete. We’ll be blind down there :_

Suddenly the retriever turned away from the ladder and shot off down the hallway. “Where’s that little guy going?” Garrett asked.

 _: Guys, there’s someone else down there :_ Fitz reported.

“Copy that”, Coulson said. He turned to Samantha “we can take it from here, go back to the van”, he ordered.

Samantha knew by his tone that it would be no point in arguing. “Ok”, she said “be careful, both of you”. She started walking away but stopped when Coulson spoke.

“Keep your eyes out for Deathlok. If you see him, do _not_ engage, understood”

Samantha turned back to him “loud and clear AC”, she answered and with that she walked away.

\------------------

By the time she got back to the van, thankfully not running into Mike, Ward and May had joined Coulson and Garret. Samantha, Skye and Fitz watched them talk to a wheelchair bound man.

“Let’s pack this freak off to The Fridge where he belongs”, Garrett said.

“Who is that man?” Samantha asked Fitz and Skye quietly.

“Thomas Nash aka the Clairvoyant”, Skye answered in the same hushed tone. Samantha’s eyes widened. _So this was the guy who’d been causing us so much trouble?_

“Agent Garrett, look at me. Do you believe you can confine me any more than this chair?” Thomas asked.

“Can somebody please tell me how we turn that stupid voice thing off?” Garrett questioned, as it was starting to get on his nerves.

“I will join Raina in your prison, Agent Coulson, but I will see you wherever you go, just as I saw you and Agent Ward holding Skye and Samantha in your arms, bleeding…” a flicker of anger crossed Ward’s face at the mention of the twins being shot. This man sitting before him was the one who’d ordered Quinn to shoot the sisters. He was the reason they’d almost lost to members of their team. Even May, who was usually so composed, looked angry. “…dying…knowing it was all your fault”

Coulson took a couple of steps closer to Thomas, the mention of Skye and Samantha having struck a chord with him too. “You’re going away. We’re gonna stick you in a little box where no one will ever hear you again”, he said angrily.

“I see you’re angry. Head clouded with lies. You’ve been betrayed and now you fear what’s about to happen”, Thomas said.

“Nothing’s about to happen. Just more empty threats from you”, Coulson countered.

“No. It is the inevitable. A force beyond your comprehension is coming for you – you, Skye and Samantha”, Thomas told him. Ward’s face hardens little more from the threat to the sisters. “They have something we want and she will die giving it to us”, the man continued “I have seen it”.

Coulson leans in close to Thomas. “Go to hell”, he all but spat.

“No matter where I go, or what you do to me, I will always – “ a shot rang out, abruptly cutting Thomas off.

Inside the van Fitz, Skye and Samantha stare at the feed with wide eyes. “Wait, what just happened?” Skye asked shocked that her SO had just shot someone.

“Did Ward just…” Fitz began but was unable to finish.

“Yeah…he just killed him”, Samantha said, feeling like the breath had been knocked out of her. She watched the screen, seeing May disarm Ward. He didn’t resist but he also didn’t show any remorse that he had just take a life.

\--------------------------------------

The Doctor looked up from the console when Samantha entered the TARDIS. Immediately he could tell that something bad had happened based on the way she came in. “What happened?” he asked going over to her.

“Ward just killed the guy we were after”, Samantha replied “and he didn’t show any remorse when he did it”.

“Sam, I’m sorry”, the Doctor said.

“Its ok” Samantha sighed “I should feel relieved but I don’t”.

“Well you did see your SO kill someone…”

“No, that’s not it”, Samantha cut in “Yes, I’m shocked Ward did it and so coldly too…but something doesn’t feel right”.

“What do you mean?” the Doctor asked.

“Nash never spoke. The computer spoke for him”, Samantha replied “but what if Nash wasn’t the one who was controlling the computer? What if he was just a plant?”

“Then Ward killed the wrong guy”, the Doctor stated.

“Exactly”, Samantha said “all the attacks lead to Nash. Then Ward kills him which brings the investigation into the Clairvoyant…” the Doctor gave her a confused look which Samantha didn’t see  “…to a close, all wrapped up with a neat little bow” she ran a hand through her now loose brown hair “I need to talk to Coulson. I’ll be back in a minute” and with that she walked out.

The Doctor watched her go, concern in his eyes. He didn’t like the fact that there were somethings he didn’t know, like this Clairvoyant business but he respected the fact that Samantha had to keep things from him because of the classified nature. He just hoped that if things weren’t about to get worse for his girlfriend and her team.

\------------

“Come in”, Coulson called after Samantha knocked. She pulled back the sliding door and entered his office.

“Coulson, I’m concerned that Ward may have killed the wrong guy”, Samantha said, pulling the door shut.

“I was worried about that too”, Coulson agreed.

“The computer thing bothered me. I mean how do we know for sure if it was Nash who was talking?” Samantha asked.

“We don’t because Ward killed him”, Coulson answered. He sighed wearily “I feel like he could still be out there right now, in our heads”.

“Or in our files”, Samantha said a sudden thought having occurred to her, leaving her more worried than before it was she was thinking was true “Think about it, the Clairvoyant knew how to push all the right buttons with Ward leading him to shoot Nash”.

“Raina did that to me, too”, Coulson said.

“Did she say anything specific that could be in your file?” Samantha asked.

“She mentioned a lot of things”, Coulson answered. Samantha’s eyes flickered to the tablet on his desk.

“May I?” Samantha asked motioning to it. Coulson picked it up and handed it over. It took Samantha a couple of minutes to pull up Coulson’s psych evaluation file. She quickly skimmed over it. “Did Raina mention your father’s death?” she questioned looking up at Coulson. He didn’t answer. “Your psych evaluation called it ‘a defining moment’”.

Coulson took the tablet from her and started to read. “Skye told me about some of the other psych evals she’s read while we were heading to Florida. Apparently they’re pretty detailed. They don’t just cover the agents personality. There’s also pictures, stats, where you’ve been stationed, who you’d visit, where you like to eat”.

Coulson looked sharply up at her “Dinners at The Richmond”, he breathed, slowly coming to the same conclusion that Samantha had “He’s been monitoring us. Think about it. The Clairvoyant only knew you’d be at Quinn’s villa-“

“After Skye dropped a tracker”, Samantha interrupted “And the only thing he’s had trouble seeing is what happened to you after you died”.

“Because Director Fury wouldn’t release that file to anyone”, Coulson said.

Samantha’s eyes widened as the wild thought she had turned out to be very true. Though she dearly wished it wasn’t. “Oh my god”, she breathed “to get access to the files you’d need…”

“Security clearance”, Coulson finished, his face hardening at the realisation that the Clairvoyant wasn’t psychic at all… he was something much worse “He’s an agent of SHIELD”.


	37. Secret message shock

Samantha walked quickly through the Bus, looking for her sister. She had to tell her about the Clairvoyant being an Agent of SHIELD. Instead of finding her twin, she ran into Fitz who was looking rather panicked.

“Fitz”, Samantha said.

“What?” he asked, holding up his hands almost defensively.

“You ok?” the brunette questioned wondering if she should be worried.

“Well, uh…” Fitz glanced over his shoulder toward the cockpit and Samantha followed his gaze “I’m not quite sure, actually. Cause, um…I was just, um, um, doing maintenance in the avionics bay before….” a look of confusion flickered across the face of Samantha as Fitz rambled “Okay. Why would May” Fitz’s voice lowered to a whisper “Why would May have an unauthorized encrypted hard line in the cockpit, complete with a thumb scanner? That isn’t in any of the plane’s specs”.

“Wait, slow down. An encrypted hard line?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah. Dedicated to one receiver”, Fitz said “She’s not supposed to have that. Who’s she talking to?”  

“I – “ Samantha started then a horrible thought struck her “Cut the line”, she ordered.

“What?” Fitz asked.

“You need to cut the line right now, Fitz. Do not let her call out”, Samantha said. She watched Fitz hurry away before she started off in another direction. Samantha came across her sister coming out of the bathroom. “Skye, tell Coulson that May is the Clairvoyant”, she ordered.

“What!?” Skye asked, shocked.

“I don’t have time to explain. Coulson is in the holding cell with Ward. Tell him about May”, Samantha said.

“What are you going to do?” Skye called after her.

“Going to make sure May doesn’t hurt Fitz!” Samantha called back. She ran through the maze of corridors in the aircraft before finally flinging open a door that led to the cargo hold. May was standing in front of the lab pointing her gun at Fitz who was thankfully behind the glass doors.

“May put the gun down!” she ordered pointing her own ICER at the woman “Now!”

Before May could say or do anything, Skye and Coulson appeared on the catwalk above. “You heard her, put the gun down”, Coulson ordered, he and Skye both pointing their guns at her too.

“It’s not what you think, Coulson. It’s just an ICER”, May said.

“This one is not. It’s real, with real bullets. So you better put yours down and tell me what the hell’s going on right now”, Coulson demanded.

“I can’t”, May said.

“I suggest you do it May”, Samantha suggested “you’re good but you can’t take all three of us before one of us gets you”.

“Look…” May held up one of her hands and lowers her gun “I can explain everything, but not here”.

“Why not here?” Coulson countered “You have to check with someone first, using that encrypted phone in the cockpit?” May levelled a glare at the scientist. “Who’s on the other end of that line, May?” Coulson asked.

May looked up at him “I can’t say”, she said.

“That’s okay, I think I know”, Coulson said “It makes sense now why Deathlok put Blake in critical condition, left you alive and well. Why he led us to the track only to disappear instead of defending his boss. Why would he do that? Because that wasn’t his boss, was it? Was it?!?”

May seems genuinely confused by his accusations which Samantha took note of. She knew May was a very good agent but even she didn’t think May would be able to feign confusion like that. She was almost certain that the woman, while having an encrypted hard line when she shouldn’t have one, was _not_ working for the Clairvoyant.

“What are you talking about?” May asked.

“Stop lying to me!” Coulson shouted “Who do you answer to?!? Who’s the real Clairvoyant?”

Samantha opened her mouth to say that May wasn’t working for the Clairvoyant when the Bus suddenly rocked. She stumbled back into the doorframe, grabbing hold of it with one hand while keeping her ICER pointed at May.

~TARDIS~

“What was that?” Rose asked as she, the Doctor and Jack convened in the console room, all three of them having felt the TARDIS shake. Before the Time Lord could say anything, the scanner flickered to life. The trio gathered around and saw what was occurring in the cargo hold.

“What did you do? Where are we going?” Coulson demanded on the screen.

“I don’t know! I didn’t do it, Phil! I don’t know what’s happening her, I swear!” May shouted.

“Shouldn’t we do something Doc?” Jack asked.

“I will. You two stay here”, the Doctor said. He then turned and headed down the ramp. The Time Lord exited the TARDIS, unnoticed by everyone in the Cargo hold as they were more focused on each other.

~cargo hold~

“If you’re not doing this, who is?” Coulson asked. May didn’t answer, she just shook her head.

“Whats going on out here?” the Doctor asked.

“It’s none of your business Doctor”, Coulson said, still keeping his gun trained on Agent May.

“My girlfriend is involved in this stand-off. Its makes it my business”, the Doctor stated. He looked at Samantha “Sam?”

“We’re just trying to sort something out”, Samantha answered.

“With guns?” the Doctor questioned.

“They’re ICERs”, Samantha corrected “they don’t kill”.

“Doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t be trying to sort anything out with weapons”, the Doctor said “how about you all put them down”, he suggested.

“That’s a good idea”, Coulson agreed, much to the team’s surprise. “Drop the weapon!” he ordered Agent May. _Yeah…didn’t think he was going to put down his weapon_ Samantha thought. May did as he said, kicking it over toward the stairs. “Now back the hell up! Over there!”

Samantha moved towards May as she backed up, her ICER still trained on the woman. Coulson and Skye walked down the stairs, the former picking up May’s gun. “Talk. Tell us where you rerouted the plane”, Coulson said.

“I didn’t set this new course. I swear!” May insisted.

“Coulson I th – “ the Doctor started when Coulson cut in with

“Don’t lie to me!”

“Yeah, well, the plane just turned around, for God’s sake!” Fitz shouted, his voice slightly muffled by the glass doors of the lab.

“How is this happening, then?” Sky asked.

“H.Q. can override automated control of the avionics, take us anywhere they want”, May explained  “Let me check the instrument panel, and I’ll be able to – “

“No way!” Fitz blurted out.

“You’re not going anywhere until you explain what – “ Coulson started.

“It’s not me!” May shouted.

“Why did you have an encrypted hard line?” Coulson shot back.

“And try to shoot me when we found it?” Fitz added.

“Let’s take a breath”, the Doctor said, trying once again to diffuse the situation.

“Lets not!” Coulson said angrily. He stalked closer to May, pointing the gun higher to her face.

“It was a dedicated channel…to Director Fury. That’s the truth”, May confessed. But that only seemed to anger Coulson even more.

“Director Fury? I haven’t been able to get him on the line for weeks”, Coulson said.

“You were reporting to him?” Skye asked, shocked.

“That’s all I can tell you”, May said.

“Oh, just come out with it!” Fitz exclaimed.

“That’s all you can tell us?!?” Coulson snapped.

“I’m under orders! Fury will tell you”, May told him.

“So was it an order to shoot Fitz in the head?” Samantha demanded, her grip tightening on her ICER. If there was one thing she didn’t like, it was when one of the people she cared about was either being hurt or threatened. And it didn’t matter who did the hurting, friend or foe…she would make sure they never did it again.

“Hold on. We’re not headed to Fury anymore”, Coulson said, realising that was where they were going to before the plane was rerouted.

“I don’t know where we’re headed. And I can’t get Fury on the line because Fitz cut the line!” May shot another glare at Fitz.

“Ok, that’s enough!” the Doctor said loudly earning looks from all them “put down the ICERs. All of you”. At first none of them did as he said but when he gave them a look which told them he wasn’t impressed with the situation, they all holstered their ICERs. “Now tell me, whats going on”, he said in a much calmer voice.

“Someone was talking to The Clairvoyant, the real Clairvoyant”, Samantha answered “when Fitz discovered May’s encrypted hard line…we thought that she was talking to him or her. Turns out she was reporting to Director Fury behind our backs. And now we’re heading to god-knows-where”.

“Fitz how did you know about the hard line?” the Doctor asked the Scottish scientist.

“Does it matter how I know?” Fitz asked getting defensive “ _May_ had it installed in the cockpit when it shouldn’t even be there!”

Coulson turned to Fitz “Fitz”, he said.

Fitz glares at May for a moment before speaking. “I was trying to speak to Simmons at The Hub”, he admitted.

“And you needed an encrypted line?” Coulson asked “What’s so secret that you – “

“Well, you tell me!” Fitz interrupted “Simmons and I know you three have been whispering – “ he wags his finger between Coulson, Skye and Samantha “Keeping things from us, about the drug that saved your life. Simmons is just trying to figure out how the whole thing works!” they all watched him walk away in anger.

“Fitz. Who is she talking to?” May asked.

Coulson walks closer to the lab doors. “Fitz, open the door”, he said.

“No way, not until we sort this out”, Fitz said firmly “I’m not opening anything”.

“Open the door”, Coulson ordered.

Fitz shook his head “I’m sorry Coulson, I can’t”, he said.

“We can’t get anything sorted until you open the damn door!” Coulson shot back before focusing on May again “Skye, get your laptop hooked up to our system. See if you can pull up any SHIELD communications. I want to know where this plane is headed and why”.

Skye turned to the lab doors, raising her arms to Fitz, silently asking him if he was going to open the door. He does so, albeit very reluctantly. Skye enters the lab, going straight for her laptop. Coulson turns his head to look at Fitz. “Now tell me who Simmons is talking to. Cause if it isn’t someone we trust she’s in serious danger”, he said.

\---------------

A few minutes later, everyone was in the lab. Skye was hard at work on the laptop while May was on the other side, with Coulson holding a gun on her. Fitz was on the very far end of the lab eyeing May warily. Samantha and the Doctor stood by Skye’s chair, looking over her shoulder at the laptop. Static sounded through the speakers.

“All I’m getting is noise Coulson”, Skye reported.

“What do you mean, ‘noise’?” Coulson asked.

“I mean literally noise, across every SHIELD communication channel”, Skye elaborated “Some sort of blanket signal”.

“Encoded data, maybe?” Fitz offered.

“I think so”, Skye agreed.

“Can I try?” the Doctor asked the brunette.

“Sure”, Skye replied getting up from the chair. The Doctor sat down and the twins watched him flash the sonic screwdriver over the laptop.

Coulson looked at May “You want to fill us in?” he asked “We root you out, a mole, suddenly our plane shuts down, our communications jammed”.

“I don’t know what’s happening”, May gritted out “I wish I did. You have to believe me”.

“No, I don’t”, Coulson said.

Suddenly through the static on the laptop, a male voice spoke “Do you read? Do you read 616?”

“Where’s that coming from?” Fitz asked. Skye leant over the Doctor and tapped a few keys.

“Close”, she answered.

“Enemy aircraft, on my tail. Over”, the voice said, coming through clearer which everyone recognised as Agent Garrett.

“Garrett?” Coulson asked.

“Coulson, I’m under attack. Drones”, Garrett said “Repeat, SHIELD drones are on my ass. We’re not getting along. Do you copy?”  

Samantha frowned. Why would SHIELD be attacking Agent Garrett? “Copy”, Coulson said “Garrett, what’s happening?” he asked “We’ve lost control of our aircraft”.

“Hell if I know”, Garrett said “Tell me you got guns on that thing. I’m coming to you”.

Coulson looks down for a moment then up at May and fired his ICER. She collapsed to the floor unconscious. Skye, Fitz and Samantha look at their boss but didn’t say anything. “Fitz, can you manually wire the guns to weapons control, bypass our system?” Coulson asked.

“If I have cables long enough, yeah”, Fitz answered.

“Skye, decode the signal. We need to get ahead of this. I don’t want any more surprises today”, Coulson instructed.

“We should let Rose and Jack know whats going on”, Samantha said to the Doctor. He nodded in agreement and the pair left the lab, going straight for the blue box.

“Sam whats going on?” Rose asked.

“I don’t really have a lot of time to explain it all to you”, Samantha said “Long story short: we’ve been looking for this person who calls themselves the ‘Clairvoyant’. He or she allegedly has powers to read our minds. We thought it was over when Ward killed Nash…”

“Who you thought was a plant”, the Doctor put in.

“He _was_ a plant Doctor” Samantha corrected “The Clairvoyant doesn’t have powers. He or she is an Agent of SHIELD”, Samantha said.

“And…that fight?” Jack asked “what was that all about?”

“You saw?” Samantha asked, surprised.

“We didn’t see all of it”, Rose said “didn’t even know what was going on until we all felt that shaking”.

“That was the plane rerouting”, Samantha said “I have no clue where we’re going. To make matters worse, there’s some sort of signal blocking every single SHIELD communications channel. Skye’s working on it”.

Then her phone rang. “Speak of my twin…” Samantha answered her phone “hey Skye, you decode that signal?”

“Almost”, Skye answered “Coulson would like you in the Command Center”.

“You got it”, Samantha said and hung up. She turned to the others “Skye needs me in the Command Centre. You all better come too so you can stay in the loop” and with that she left the TARDIS. the Doctor, Jack and Rose followed after her.

~Command Center~

“Oh, I saw your trajectory. You’re being tractor-beamed straight to The Hub. Those drones were launched out of there for sure”, Garrett said as Samantha and the others reached the Command Center.

“Victoria Hand”, Coulson stated.

“Hand?” Fitz asked “Can’t be”.

“Can’t be what, now?” Garrett questioned, confused.

“The Clairvoyant”, Skye answered.

Garrett frowned “I thought Ward capped that guy”, he said.

“I don’t believe the man Ward killed was The Clairvoyant. I think he was an unwitting decoy meant to end our investigation”, Coulson told him.

“That’s a lot of trouble to go through for a red herring, don’t you think?” Garrett asked.

“Not necessarily considering the Clairvoyant is a SHIELD Agent”, Samantha spoke up.

“Using high-level clearance to stay ahead of us, make it seem like she’s got psychic abilities”, Coulson added.

Garrett raised his eyebrows “’She’? You think Victoria Hand’s The Clairvoyant?” he asked. He then scoffed at that notion “I don’t mean to pee in the punchbowl, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense. I was stationed with Vic in Lisbon. She’s a hard-ass and a buzzkill at parties, I grant you, but do you really think she’s capable of that?”

“Excuse me, didn’t she just try to blow you out of the sky?” Coulson countered.  

“Don’t get me wrong, she’s definitely gone nuts, but her actions prove she’s not The Clairvoyant, right?” Garrett said “I mean, if she’s been hiding in plain sight all this time…why reveal herself now?”  

“Guys”, Skye said staring at the monitor with wide eyes. They all followed her gaze to the large monitor.

OUT OF THE SHADOWS INTO THE LIGHT

Samantha clapped a hand of over her mouth to stifle the gasp when the next word appeared.

HYDRA


	38. Facing the music

All of them stared at the screen in shock. “I thought Hydra was defeated after World War II”, Fitz said.

“It was”, Jack spoke up earning looks from everyone “The Time Agency had records of thing like that”, he explained. It had been one of the things he looked out for during his short stint in WWII London but he never noticed a Hydra presence in the city.

“And SHIELD was founded in the wake of that victory”, Coulson added.

“And now they’re back?” Fitz asked, fearfully.

“Hydra always comes back”, Garrett said seriously. 

“Cut off the head, two more will take its place”, Samantha put in. Eric had made sure that she was well  versed in SHEILD’s history, including how it was created.

“Is it a head?” Garrett asked, confused “I thought it was a limb”.

“No, no, no. ‘Cut off a head’”, Fitz corrected.  

“It was sent from a SHIELD source”, Skye cut in before the argument could continue “It’s got to be some sort of activation signal, to Hydra members within SHIELD”.

“Hand must be one of them”, Coulson surmised.

“Okay, stop. Stop. W-what does that mean? IN SHIELD?” Fitz asked wanting clarification.

“Targeting Level 8 agents, seizing power. Wonder how deep it goes”, Garrett said.

“The signal is _everywhere_ ”, Skye told him “Deep”.

“You know what this means?” Coulson asked.

“Yeah. We’re screwed”, Garrett deadpanned.

“We can’t change course, and we have no idea what’s waiting for us at The Hub”, Coulson stated.

“I say we blow a hole in the side of this puppy and parachute out. Live to fight another day”, Garrett suggested.

“We can’t”, Coulson said.

“It’s a cherry ride, I’ll give you that, but let’s not just hand over the keys”, Garrett said.

“Simmons is at The Hub. We have to save her”, Fitz said.

Garrett cursed under his breath “Trip’s there, too”, he said “I don’t mind saying I don’t like the odds on this one. We should let your specialists out of their cage. We can use every weapon we can get”.

“We’ve got to save her”, Skye insisted.

“So, we’ll fly in there, face the music…even if it is the Hydra theme song”, Coulson said seriously.

Knowing the severity of the situation, Samantha took the Doctor, Jack and Rose to one side. “This is really bad, isn’t it Sam?” Rose asked having gathered that much by the conversation even if she didn’t understand what they were talking about.

“That’s an understatement”, Samantha said “is there a way to cloak the TARDIS or send her away without a pilot?” she asked the Doctor “if Hydra is about to take the plane, last thing we need if for them to find her”.

“She has cloaking capabilities”, the Doctor said.

“Good”, Samantha said “listen, we have no clue what we’re up against…how many Hydra Agents are inside the Hub” she looked at Jack “I’m guessing you know how to fight?”

“Of course I do”, Jack confirmed “never know when you need to get a bit violent on a mission”.

“And I know you can Doctor. So that just leaves you Rosie”, Samantha said looking over at her sister “I’m afraid you’re going to have to sit this one out”.

“What?! “ Rose exclaimed “why?”

“We’re heading into an extremely dangerous situation. I want you safe”, Samantha said.

“So I’m supposed to sit on the side lines while you 3 help Sam’s team save Simmons and Trip?” Rose asked “no way!”

“Yes way”, Samantha countered “Rose, we 3…” she gestured to herself, Jack and the Doctor can fight “you can’t. In a situation like that one we’re going to be heading into, it can get real crazy, real fast. One mistake…one wrong move and you could get seriously hurt or worse. Mum would never forgive me if either of those things happened. So that’s why you’re not going to join us”.

Rose turned to the Doctor “I’m with Sam on this one. You’re not coming with us”, he said “I’m going to take you home until its safe”.

“Jack?” Rose asked hoping that he would be on her side.

“Sorry Rose”, the American said “I agree with the Doctor and your sister”.

Rose turned away from trio taking deep shaky breaths. Samantha half expected the blonde to slap or continue to yell at them when she turned back, instead Rose flung her arms around her sister, giving her a tight hug. “You better stay in one piece”, she said.

“I will Rosie, I promise”, Samantha promised.

~Cargo Hold~

“You promise, you’re going to be careful”, Rose said again as they stopped by the TARDIS.

“Yes, Rosie, I promise”, Samantha said and the two of them hugged. Then it was the Doctor’s turn. His hug lasted longer than Rose’s did.

“I’ll be back soon”, he promised “Don’t do anything without me”, he added in a mock warning tone.

“No promises”, Samantha said and gave him a quick kiss “love you”.

“I love you too”, he said. Samantha moved back and she and Jack watched the TARDIS disappear.

It was mere minutes after the blue box had gone when the Bus shook. “We better get to the others, the attack has just started”, Samantha said. Jack nodded in agreement and they made their way back to the upper level.

The pair had barely joined the others by outside the cockpit when shots were fired at the aircraft. Samantha yelped when a bullet whizzed past, grazing her arm. Jack quickly pulled her down, shielding her body with his own. Garrett, Ward, Skye and Fitz took cover as well. “Jack, I’m fine. It’s just a graze”, Samantha said when the American checked her arm after the gun fire stopped.

They looked over at the cockpit as the door opened and Coulson walked out with an injured Agent May. He walked past all of them, leading May to the lab. Garrett, Ward, Fitz, Jack and the twins followed after them.

As soon as they reached the lab, they heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS engines. When the Doctor stepped out, he seemed to appear from thin air. “I see you’ve cloaked the TARDIS”, Samantha remarked “how do you find her without walking into her?”

“Easy. Just remember where I’ve parked”, the Doctor replied with a smile. It dropped when he noticed blood on her sleeve. “You’re hurt”, he said, starting forward with every intention of checking the severity of her wound when Samantha stopped him.

“It’s just a graze”, she said “I’m pretty sure the time vortex has already healed it by now”.

“What happened?” the Doctor asked.

“A few minutes after you left the Bus shook and bullets started flying”, Samantha replied “everyone is in the lab…well almost everyone is in there prepping for going into the Hub” and with that she headed into the lab, the Doctor following.

Samantha went over to one of the lockers and took out a few ICERs and several magazines and set them onto the holotable. “A non-lethal weapon? Shouldn’t we be using proper guns?” Jack asked noting that’s what the guns were.

“No”, Samantha said taking out spare holsters and some flak jackets “we have no clue who is Hydra and who isn’t. Better to be safe than accidently kill a friendly”.

“It’s a good idea”, the Doctor agreed.

Samantha took one of the flak jackets and put it on. “You might want to take this too”, the Doctor said holding out her extendable Yautja spear.

“Do you really think I’m going to need it?” Samantha asked slipping a couple of extra magazine’s into the pouches on her leg holster.

“Better safe than sorry”, the Doctor replied “as you said, we have no idea what we’re up against”.

“True”, Samantha said taking the spear from him and tucking it into the back belt loops of her trousers, making sure that she could easily get out if she needed to. The Time Lord checked her flak jacket to make sure that it was secure.

“What’s all that?” Jack asked looking at the large monitor which now displayed everything that the team had discovered during their time together. Samantha joined him while the Doctor shed his leather jacket to put on a flak jacket over his jumper.

“That’s everything we’ve gathered over the past several months. 084 specs…Asgardian weaponry…portal creation…Donnie’s weather machine…” Samantha listed off.

“Gravitonium which is in The Fridge…” Ward added having come in with Garrett as she was telling Jack about the various devices and weapons they’d found.

“It’s below The Fridge. No records”, Coulson spoke up.

“What’s The Fridge?” Jack asked Samantha quietly.

“A secure SHEILD facility”, Samantha answered “it’s primarily a prison”. 

“Okay. But on the off chance we would give them the designs to weaponize it”, Ward said to Coulson “The drug from TAHITI, sir? All here. If Hydra’s really about to seize this plane –“

Coulson looks at Skye. “We should wipe the system”, he told her.

“I’m backing it up on this hard drive to keep our edge”, Skye informed him tapping the drive on the holotable.

“Then do it. Scrub the plane clean”, Coulson instructed.

“It’ll take some time”, Skye said.

“We’ll working on buying you some”, Garrett said coming into the lab, carrying a large bag. He gestured with his head to Fitz who nodded. The twins, Jack, the Doctor, Coulson and May watched the pair leave the lab.

~The Hub~

About ten minutes later all of them were walking through some hallways inside The Hub. “It’s called a mouse hole. It cuts through anything, really. I designed it a year ago and submitted it for testing, but it never reached distribution”, Fitz said, explaining the little contraption he used to get them out of the Bus without going by the ramp.

“Top agents always hog the good stuff”, Garrett remarked.

“You’re right. The hard drive’s safer in your hands”, Skye told Ward as they walked at the back of the group “You haven’t taught me how to hold up under torture yet”.

Ward took the drive and tucked it into his backpack. “We’ll get to that. It’s real fun”, he said.

Coulson, who was even further back moved forward until he was at the front of the group. “All right, here’s where we split up”, he said “Skye, Ward and Jack?”

“Heading to the nerve center”, Ward said knowing what his and Skye’s job was.

“Disable their systems, most importantly their control of our plane”, Coulson ordered.

“Copy that”, Skye said. The pair start off but Coulson stops them.

“Remember, these agents are under orders. Use ICERs only. We’ll find Simmons, get her out”, he said.

“Be careful”, the Doctor said to Jack.

“Will do”, Jack said “don’t have too much fun without me”.

“Same goes for you”, Samantha countered. Jack flashed her a grin and then he, Ward and Skye left to complete their mission.

“We should go straight for Hand. Hydra’s always taking about getting their heads cut off, right?” Garrett said.

May and Fitz fall in line behind Coulson and Garrett, the Doctor and Samantha bringing up the rear. “Saving Simmons and Triplett, that’s our priority”, Coulson said firmly.

“I agree, and that’s how I’d get it done”, Garrett told him “Hope _you_ have a better plan”.

Garrett picks up his pace, as does Fitz. May dropped back to walk next to Coulson. “Phil, I can help you if you –“ she held up handcuffed wrists.

“We need your help, but the cuffs stay on”, Coulson said. May lowered her arms, dejected as he picks up his pace.

~monitoring room~

Garrett, Coulson, Fitz, May and Jack met very little resistance getting to one of the monitoring rooms so that they could access the security cameras to find Trip and Jemma.

May stands in front of one of the screens and points at it “There. Agent Hand. Outside the east wing situation room”, she said.

“This is definitely a situation”, Garrett remarked.

Fitz leant over the monitors, peering at them “Is Simmons there?” he asked “We don’t move until we find Simmons”.

“I’ll say it again. Best bet to save her, use the ventilation system to get above the sit room. Drop down using Fitz’s sweet little mouse hole, and put two bullets though Victoria Hand’s heart”, Garrett stated eyeing Victoria Hand on the monitor.

“Yeah, that’s an option, sir”, Fitz agreed.

“Fitz!” Samantha exclaimed.

“We’re not killing her”, the Doctor added.

“Why not?” Fitz demanded “she’s the Clairvoyant”.

“Ever heard of the phrase ‘dead man tell no tales’? Samantha asked.

“She’s right”, the Doctor said “You won’t get any information from her if she’s dead. Better to keep her alive, find out how many Hydra Agents there are…maybe even her end game”.

“Careful Doctor, you’re starting to think more like an Agent”, Samantha mock warned.

“Is that a bad thing?” The Doctor asked.

Samantha shook his head “No”, she replied “I kinda like it”. The Doctor smiled at her. The brunette turned Garrett “your plan is sound but we should use ICERs. It –“

“You don’t put someone like her on ice!” Garrett exclaimed, interrupting her “Sam, she had both you and your twin sister  shot in the stomach, in the stomach, because you were curious. Mike Peterson, burned alive and turned into some kind of freak” he looked pointedly at Coulson “She tortured you, using the same machine she used to brainwash that bitch in the flower dress”. Coulson’s eyes widened at this which was unnoticed by Garrett who continued “And right now, she’s probably doing the same to Agent Simmons”.

“No. Simmons will be fine”, Fitz said firmly.

“Just being realistic, kid”, Garrett said.

“I never mentioned that”, Coulson said, so quietly that his voice was barely audible.

“I’m telling you, killing her quick would be a mercy”, Garrett continued. 

“I never said Raina had been inside the machine”, Coulson said, his voice a little louder but not by much “I never told that to anybody”. Samantha and the Doctor exchanged looks. None of them knew that piece of information because as Coulson said, he never told anyone. So how did Garrett know Raina had been in the same machine?

“I must’ve read it in a report, then”, Garrett said, not seeing his point.

“You weren’t with us”, Coulson said. Samantha put a hand on her ICER,  ready to pull it out if needed. The Doctor didn’t do that but he tensed up in anticipation for the conversation to go south very quickly.

“The point is, how many more have to suffer before Vic gets hers?” Garrett asked.

“You showed up right after”, Coulson stated.

“What are you driving at?” Garrett questioned.

“After Sam and Skye was shot, Quinn said it was so I would lead The Clairvoyant to the cure. That’s exactly what I did”, Coulson said “I walked _you_ right in there with me”.

Garrett shakes his head and laughs. “Phil…look, it’s been a rough day. I-I get it. But you need to take a second and…” he trailed off when he saw the Coulson wasn’t going to be swayed by anything he said. He sighed “Damn it”, he said.

Suddenly the doors burst open at this point and a swarm of soldiers enters. “Freeze! Don’t move! Hand’s where I can see ‘em”, one of them ordered. All 6 of them had no choice but to do as they were told.

“Easy, fellas”, Garrett said.

“Take Agent Garrett into custody. He’s the murderer they call The Clairvoyant. He’s a traitor”, Coulson said giving the man an accusing look.

“Gentlemen, I know Agent Sitwell was in charge of filling your ranks, so at least a few of you know what to do in this situation”, Garrett said to the soldiers “Anytime, boys”. One of the soldiers opens fire taking out a few of the other soldiers. Garrett grinned “Hail Hydra”, he said.

“Hail Hydra!” the soldiers cheered.


	39. It's all gone

Then Coulson, May, Fitz, Samantha and the Doctor were forced to stand in a line at gun point while they were disarmed. Samantha allowed them to take her ICER but when she resisted them taking her Yautja spear, one of the Hydra Agents threatened to shoot the Doctor so the brunette gave the spear up. Her jaw clenched as she watched the agent carelessly toss the spear aside. She couldn’t wait to punch that guy’s lights out for not taking care of her gift.

“Those three men in your unit, I guess they asked the wrong questions”, Coulson stated bitterly.

Garrett shrugged “Until today, it was all about keeping the secret”, he said.

“Are you gonna kill us?” Fitz asked quietly.

Once again Garrett shrugged “That wasn’t my plan, really” he sighed and walked closer to them “If it was, I could’ve done that at any time I wanted. No, Coulson and I go way back. Back to the days when Nick Fury was teaching us tactics” he smiled at Coulson and mimics holding a gun “Clearing corners, slicing the pie. Remember, Phil?”

“Fury would bury you for this”, Coulson said all but angrily. He couldn’t believe it. Hydra was hiding within SHIELD and Garrett was one of them.

“Probably”, Garrett said “Instead, he’ll just have to roll over in his grave. He must’ve uncovered our secret. Top brass did what they had to do. Explains why we’ve suddenly come ‘out of the shadows’. Not a minor inconvenience, I might add”.

May frowned “’Top brass’?” she questioned. How high did this thing really go?

“Oh, my, yes. Tip-top”, Garrett answered “We had a good thing going, too”, he remarked “Waving the SHIELD flag as hard as we could. I guess we’ll be changing colours now”. Samantha’s jaw clenched. She wanted to smack that stupid smile from his face!

“For Hydra?” Coulson scoffed “You really believe all that crap, spreading death and destruction?”

Garrett grimaced “I wouldn’t say I’m a true believer”, he admitted “Let’s just say I felt the wind changing direction and swung my sail. You really should, too”.

“I would die before serving Hydra, you sick son of a bitch”, Coulson spat. _Damn straight_ Samantha thought, wholeheartedly agreeing with him. She too would rather give her life as a SHIELD Agent than betray the people that she considered to be family.

Garrett grimaced for a second time “I hate to tell you but…you’ve been serving Hydra all along”, he gave Coulson a smile “I guess death is the only alternative. It’s a sad thing, I consider you a friend. I was happy when I heard you’d made it through”.

“So happy you had me tortured for 3 days to find out how they did it”, Coulson shot back.

“I didn’t enjoy that”, Garrett confessed “Phil, t-this is me being honest”.

“No, John. This is you being a psychopath”, Coulson said smoothly. _Oooh burn_ Samantha thought. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Fitz’s head hanging down, tears in his eyes. She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze to let him know that he wasn’t alone.

Garrett let out a small laugh before he sighed, turning his attention to May. “I know you’d follow him to the grave, so…” he gave her a mock sad face to which May responded with her trademark emotionless expression. Garrett laughed again and walks toward Fitz. “As for you, Agent Fitz, you’ll hold a very high rank, run our tech division, if you volunteer”, he said. Fitz looked up at him, a tear rolling down his face “If not, you’ll have no rank and a lot of pain. Of course, either way –“ he bowed slightly to the young man “Your services will be required”.

Samantha squeezed his hand again making Fitz glance at her. She gave him a smile. That was all he needed to say what he truly wanted to say to Garrett “You’re gonna suffer for what you’ve done”, he sniffed and straightened his back, taking his hand out of Samantha’s “And I, I plan on being a very big part of that”.

Garrett laughs and claps Fitz on his shoulder “I like you, kid”, he said before moving onto Samantha “How about you Sammy? You could be a specialist or you could be a part of our research division, focusing on history and archaeology of course”.

“Only my friends can call me Sammy. You’re _not_ my friend”, Samantha said.

Garrett put his hands up “my apologies Sam”, he said “so how about it, you ready to jump ship and join Hydra?”

Samantha glanced one way at Coulson, May and Fitz and then at the Doctor “they’re my family”, she said looking back at Garrett “I will _never_ betray them”.

Garrett sighed “I was afraid you’d say that” he turned to the Doctor “I’m guessing you won’t be joining us either”, he stated.

“You guessed right”, the Doctor said.

“I was hoping you two would willingly volunteer”, Garrett said looking at both Samantha and the Doctor “no matter, we have ways of making you cooperate”.

 _That’s not going to happen_ the Doctor thought knowing that the ways to make them cooperate was going to be nothing short of torture. And he wasn’t about to let this Hydra scum lay a hand on his girlfriend. If Garrett dared…then he would get a first-hand experience on why HE was called the Oncoming Storm.

Garrett turned to the Hydra soldiers still pointing their guns at the group “All right, let them have it”, he ordered “But shoot those three in the kneecaps”, he added pointing to Samantha, Fitz and the Doctor.

He just moved past the line of soldiers when suddenly an explosion rocks the base. The electricity blinks then goes out. The emergency lights kicked in and everything kicked off. Coulson snatched up a wrench and goes for Garrett. Fitz dived underneath a desk while the Doctor quickly used his sonic to free May from her cuffs. Samantha made a beeline for the Hydra Agent who mishandled her spear. She clocked him around the face with her fist before spinning around to engage another.

May and the Doctor took on two Agents each as well. Between the three of them it didn’t take long to take out the six Hydra Agents. They turn to watch Coulson fight it out with Garret waiting for a good opening so that they could help him.

Coulson wrapped his arm around Garrett’s neck, putting him a headlock. Garrett pulls a knife out of a holster on his belt and cuts Coulson’s arm holding him. Coulson cries out in pain and pulls his arm back and Garrett flips him over his back to land at his feet. Samantha flung out her hand, throwing time vortex at the man, tossing him back before he could stab Coulson in the face.

The doors bust open and Agent Victoria Hand and several SHIELD agents entered the room. “Hands up! Don’t move!” one of the agents ordered. Samantha, the Doctor, May and Coulson did just that. Fitz was about to when Jemma pushed past Hand and the other agents to give him a massive hug.

“I’m not Hydra”, Coulson told Victoria.

“We heard…everything”, she said looking over at Agent Shaw who was over by some piping by the wall. He pulled out a listening device from behind it and showed it to Coulson.

“Who is? How deep does it go?” Coulson asked Victoria. She looked down sadly to the floor then back up to Coulson.

\-----------

The group, along with Jack, Ward and Skye stood in the hall watching SHIELD soldiers lead several people in cuffs away. When Garrett was being led past them, Ward looked at his SO with a shocked look on his face. Trip, who was further down the hall, shouted at Garrett thoroughly hurt and betrayed by the man who trained him.

~Bus~

Glass crunched under Samantha’s boots as she walked through the destroyed aircraft. She stopped in the command centre, taking in the damage. She took out her SHIELD badge and opened it up. Samantha couldn’t help but tear up at everything that had just happened.

She felt a hand touch her lower back. Samantha glanced behind her and saw it was the Doctor. “It’s all gone”, she said, her voice trembling “I don’t know what we’re going to do now”. The Time Lord hugged her when she started to cry.

“It’s going to be ok Sam”, he said gently “I’m not going to leave you, not matter what happens next”.

“Thank you”, Samantha mumbled, clutching onto him tighter.


	40. Game of survival

_Ugh my head_ Samantha groaned as she regained consciousness. It felt like someone had used Thor’s Hammer to play whack-a-mole with it. She slowly sat up only to be stopped by someone. “You shouldn’t move”, a female voice said “not until the grogginess wears off”. Samantha stayed put, blinking several times to clear her vision. As soon as her vision was clear, she saw a young woman with dark brunette hair. She looked kind of like…Bobbi.

“Bobbi?” Samantha asked.

The woman shook her head “No, my name is Rebecca. But you can call me Becca or Becky”, she replied “whats your name?”

Samantha opened her mouth to answer her and then frowned. What was her name? “I…can’t remember”, she admitted.

“That’s ok, its normal to have a little bit of amnesia. Its just the transmat, does your head in”, Rebecca explained.

“The what?” Samantha asked, confused.

“The transmat”, Rebecca repeated “its how you got here”. Samantha eased herself to her feet, Rebecca steadying her as she stumbled. The brunette put a hand to her head and looked around.

“Where are we?” she asked. It looked like a forest.

 “This my friend is Total Wipeout”, Rebecca replied “the most deadliest obstacle course this side of the galaxy”.

Samantha snorted “trust me I’ve been in worse places than a forest”, she said “and survived”.

“Don’t let the appearance fool you, my friend…”

“Samantha”, Samantha cut in suddenly “my name is Samantha but you can call me Sam”. Her headache had abruptly vanished and everything she’d forgotten came rushing back. She remembered how SHIELD fell…the trip they took to Cardiff to refuel…she recalled it all.

“Hey, you’ve remembered!” Rebecca said happily.

“It’s not all I remember. I was with my friends and sister. We were travelling and then I was talking to Coulson on the phone…then there was this bright light…”

“That light was the transmat”, Rebecca said “it can beam you up from anywhere”.

“But we weren’t just _anywhere_ we were in the TARDIS”, Samantha said “that transmat thing must be pretty powerful. There’d be no way to beam out of the TARDIS if it wasn’t”.

“Right…ok”, Rebecca said not quite understanding what she was saying “we need to get into our places. It’s almost time”.

“I’m not going to play this game. I have to find the Doctor, Jack and Rose”, Samantha said. There was no chance in hell she was going to stay here and play Total Wipeout when the others could be in a similar predicament. She had to find them!

Rebecca stopped her from walking off “You have to play”, she insisted “the last people who tried to escape ended up getting disintegrated”. Samantha looked at her, not at all happy.

“Fine, I’ll play. For now”, she said. The first chance she got, she was getting out and looking for the others. Rebecca nodded and led her over to the starting point where 10 more people stood. Some looked scared while others looked confident.

“I’ve seen this show many times”, Rebecca said quietly to Samantha “stay as close to me as you can”. The brunette nodded.

“Contestants get ready!” a voice shouted over a loud speaker.

Samantha, Rebecca and the others got into readying positions.

“On your marks…get set….go!”

Samantha took off as fast as she could. “Listen out for the claxton!” Rebecca told her as they ran “when you hear it, you’ll have 1 minute to climb a tree high enough before you get swept away by a tidal wave!”

“Are you serious?” Samantha demanded.

“Nope! And this is only round one!” Rebecca told her “we got five more after this”. Samantha groaned. Why didn’t she just take her chance to escape before this started! She highly doubted there would be a way for her to break off now. All she could do is survive to the end.

A couple of minutes later, Samantha heard the claxton. She veered towards one of the trees lining the path. Samantha grabbed one of the branches and was about to pull herself up when she was yanked off by her legs. She looked up to see one of the confident contestants, a blonde haired man sneer at her. “Snooze ya lose!” he taunted.

Samantha jumped to her feet and ran for another tree. This time she was successful in scaling it and just in time too. She heard the roar of water and looked down to see it race past, shaking the tree she was in. Samantha leant against the bark, panting. This was only round one and she was already tired. But she wasn’t going to give up. She had to keep going for the others.

Another claxton sounded and the water level dropped rapidly. Samantha climbed down a couple of branches and saw some of the other contestants doing the same though they were going all the way down. She followed their example. Samantha dropped from the lowest branch and when she straightened up, she saw only ten contestants were left. They’d lost two.

“Ready for the next one?” Rebecca asked going over to her.

“As I’ll ever be”, Samantha answered honestly. Rebecca put an arm around her and they walked with the survivors to round two.

\-------------

Like the last one, round two wasn’t long. It consisted of a narrow gangplank stretched across a very deep hole. Every so often there were heavy swinging pendulums. Samantha got across though there were a couple of times she thought she was going to be knocked off. Rebecca survived too as did the blonde haired man who’d pulled Samantha out of the tree. They weren’t the only ones, four more made it across safely. Leaving the total of contestants as seven.

\---------------

Rounds three and four saw the loss of three more people, whittling the group of twelve down to just four. By this point, Samantha was bruised, her muscles were aching and she sported a nasty cut on her arm from barley dodging a flaming arrow of all things.

She walked with Rebecca and the other two contestants to where round five was being held. Samantha stopped and raised her eye brows at the giant pyramid before them “You’ve got to be kidding me”, she said “I really hope there’s no xenomorphs in this one”. Rebecca shot her a look “don’t ask”, Samantha said. She took a breath to pull herself together and then entered.

The four of them walked down the stone steps and into a corridor. As soon as they entered, the walls in front them slammed shut. They watched the walls move, taking note of the timings. “I’ll go first”, Samantha said. She stepped forward but the annoying blonde man pushed past her. Samantha, Rebecca and the other contestant, another young man, watched the blonde walk forward.

“Kinda wanted him to get squished”, Rebecca said a tiny bit disappointed when the man made it.

“You and me both”, Samantha agreed “ok, I’ll go next”. She walked up to the moving walls, waited for the right moment and moved. The brunette let out a relieved breath when she made it through to the other side. A moment later, Rebecca joined her on the other side. They waited for the other man. Samantha and Rebecca turned away when they saw the man get crushed. Now they were down to three people.

“Hey, where’s the annoying one?” Rebecca asked seeing that he wasn’t there.

“I’m guessing Mr Impatient went on ahead”, Samantha answered “I don’t know about you but I want to get the hell out of this damn game”.

“Same here”, Rebecca agreed. They continued walking along the corridor and turned a corner only to stop abruptly when they found the annoying blonde impaled by some wall spikes.

“Looks like someone never watched Indiana Jones”, Samantha remarked nodding to the light “you always avoid the light”. The females skirted around it and carried on. Samantha and Rebecca dodged a couple more patches of light then the latter accidently triggered the next obstacle by stepping on a piece of raised floor.

A spiky pole swung down forcing them to duck. A second appeared which they jumped over. The third one swung down, much faster than the first one. Samantha quickly shoved Rebecca to the ground so it barely skimmed the dark brunette. But this meant that it struck her, sending her flying. Samantha landed heavily on the floor, gasping from the pain, blood appearing on her shirt where the spikes got her.

This was a game of survival and she’d lost.

_Guys…I’m so sorry…_

Samantha’s eyes fluttered shut and her breathing slowed.


	41. Finale

“You can't do this to me!” was the first thing Samantha heard when she finally came back around. She gingerly touched her stomach but didn’t feel any pain. The time vortex must’ve healed her again. Never had she’d been more grateful to have that ‘gold stuff’ within her. If she hadn’t, she would be dead. “You can't. Take me back!” Rose pleaded breaking her from her thoughts. Samantha slowly sat up to discover that she was in the TARDIS, her adoptive sister shouting at the console. “Take me back! No!”

“Rose? What’s going on?” Samantha asked, grunting as she pushed herself to her feet. Her stomach churned from the movement  but she ignored it in favour of focusing on her sister.

“The Doctor tricked me!” the blonde exclaimed “you’ve gotta help me get back to him”. She turned back to the controls and continued pressing buttons. Samantha stumbled over to her side, grabbing hold of the console, a golden spark jumping unnoticed from her fingers into it. “Come on, fly”, Rose urged the ship “How do you fly?!”

Samantha opened her mouth to tell her that it was no use when her stomach lurched. She clapped a hand over her mouth and dashed out of the TARDIS. Rose ran after her sister when the doors suddenly slammed shut, trapping her inside.

Samantha fell to her knees, emptying the contents of her stomach on the pavement. She wiped her mouth, groaning as she straightened up. Then she heard the TARDIS engines start up. She spun around and darted towards the vanishing box. “Rose!” she shouted as it completely disappeared before her eyes. What the hell just happened?! The TARDIS had taken off with her sister to god knows where, leaving her behind.

She was still staring at the spot where TARDIS used to be when Mickey ran up to her. “I knew it! I was all the way down Clifton Parade, and I heard the engines”, he said. Then he noticed that the TARDIS wasn’t there “Sam? Where’s the TARDIS?”

“She’s gone”, Samantha said quietly “took Rose with her”. She turned her gaze upwards “please be safe Rosie”, she whispered.

\------------------

Months later Samantha found herself standing outside the perimeter wall of Cybertek with Skye and May. She honestly still couldn’t believe how they got to this point. Turned out that they had a wolf in the team this entire time. Grant Ward, hers and Skye’s SO was Hydra. She never saw it coming. None of them did. To make matters worse he killed Eric Koenig. That man was like the annoying, geeky brother that she never had. She was so looking forward to making Ward suffer. And she knew May was too. The Doctor may have earned the moniker of Oncoming Storm but Samantha was going to show her former SO that she too can bring the storm.

Suddenly part of the wall exploded leaving a nice big hole for the trio to go through. “Nice work, guys”, May told Coulson and Trip through her walkie talkie “The window’s open”.

They entered the building and made their way through it to look for the room where the soldiers were being controlled from. Thankfully all they had to do was follow a guard to their destination. May took down the guard they followed with her ICER. She also took care of the second guard who was stationed just inside the room.

“Coulson, we’ve found the dealer”, Skye reported through her own walkie talkie.

 _: Copy that :_ Coulson replied. May positioned herself behind the guard counter while Samantha and Skye went deeper in the room, she latter holding a backpack. The people in the room look at the twins with shock and worry, even backing away from them. Skye holds the backpack up so everyone can see.

“This is a bomb. You know what those do”, she said. The head man, Zeller goes to his large command center in the back and hurriedly typed away at the computer. “And you’ve seen my sister  here through the eyes of your super soldiers, so you know what she can do. You don’t want to mess with us, is my point”.

Samantha deliberately made eye contact with everyone making them all even more scared/nervous. “You’re not going to be able to highjack our soldiers”, Zeller told Skye as she drew closer to him “We’ve thought through every emergency scenario, including this one”.

“Don’t tell me you just switched the soldiers to default directive?” Samantha asked him raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I did”, Zeller said almost cockily. Skye and Samantha shot him identical ‘bad idea’ looks, which immediately sobers him. “A-and how did you know about that?” he asked. The twins just shared smirks. 

Samantha then walked forward so that she could take the backpack from Skye as she rung up Garrett. May then walked into the room and proceeded to round up the workers. They didn’t need any of them except Zeller.

“Hi, John. Just calling to catch up”, Skye said when Garrett picked up.

 _: Skye :_ the man said in a teasing tone which Skye ignored  _: You sound different on the phone…huskier :_

“Are you curious why I’m calling from your soldier control center?” Skye asked him.

_: No, I’m not too concerned. You see, if anyone but the assigned handler gives a directive to one of my men, well, kaboom :_

“Ah, darn it”, Skye stamped her foot “Coulson didn’t think of that. You outsmarted us again”, she said. Samantha knew she was just playing it up for Garrett.

 _: Phil’s around? Great :_ Garrett said ‘excitedly’ _: We actually have a lot to talk about. Oh, and I wanted you to know – your scientist friends – They were brave until their last breath :_

Samantha watched Skye’s face harden and then throws the phone down angrily. “Did he mention Fitz-Simmons?” she asked carefully knowing that Garrett has him in his clutches, or at least he did. She had no idea on the fates of the science duo.

“Yeah he did”, Skye answered. She snatched the backpack from Samantha and turned back to Zeller. She forced the man to sit down and strapped the backpack to his chest. “Sam, you got that thing set up on your phone right?” she asked glancing at her sister.

“Yep I do”, Samantha said taking her phone out. Skye then turned to the computer to search the floor plans to find out where the factory floor was.

“Looks like the back entrance to the factory floor is on the south side”, Skye said into her walkie talkie as soon as she found it.

_: Roger that :_

Skye puts the walkie-talkie down and addresses Zeller “my sister has to hit ‘snooze’ on her phone  every minute to keep that from blowing”, she nodded to the ‘bomb’. Samantha made a show of hitting the snooze on her phone.

“I will die before talking”, Zeller said firmly “but there’s nothing to tell. There’s no way of controlling the soldiers unless there’s an actual handler at the machine”.

“I’m not interested in that. I’m more interested in why you’re willing to die for HYDRA”, Skye said. Zeller scoffed and looked away from her “Are you a true believer?” she asked “Is HYDRA the plucky little family you never had? Or are you here because of the incentives program?”  

That got Zeller’s attention, he quickly looks up at her. “She’s not going to kill you”, Ward said from behind them “neither of them will”. Skye and Samantha turn to see him standing there with his gun trained on them. “Skye had a chance to kill me before and couldn’t do it”, he continued “she hates me…a lot” his gaze flickered over to Samantha who was glaring at him, her grip on the phone tight, almost enough to turn her knuckles white “and Sammy hates me even more”.  

“I feel sorry for you, betraying the only people who gave you a chance at being a decent human being”, Skye said calmly “Fitz was a hero because he still wanted to give you that chance after everything. But, some people are just born evil, I guess”.

“Yeah, maybe they are”, Ward agreed “I’ve learned things about you both…history, things you’ll want to know” he walked closer to the sisters “We three aren’t that different”.

Skye laughed at him while Samantha kept her mouth clamped shut. It was taking everything she had not to tear him apart there and then. “You’re not the evil I was referring to Garrett is evil”, Skye said “You’re just – weak – doing anything you’re told. I hope Garrett orders you to walk into traffic”.

“You’re right, Skye. You woke up a weakness inside me. And for the first time in a while, I wanted something for myself”, Ward said gently. He takes a few more steps towards them “Maybe I’ll just take what I want, wake up something inside of you, Skye”.

Skye steps up to him showing no emotion. “I’m not afraid of you, Ward”, she said confidently.

“Neither of you’re not going to kill us with the bomb. You’d go, too”, Ward stated.

“No. I have two weapons much better than a bomb that will absolutely destroy you”, Skye said giving him a smirk.

“And why’s that?” Ward asked.

“One you slept with and the other…you killed her friend. So now, they’re really pissed off”, Skye said. At those words, Samantha threw time vortex at Ward, knocking him of balance. May then used this opportunity to kick him through a door.

Samantha tossed her phone at Skye who just about caught it before she hurried over to the room where May and Ward were fighting it out. Her former SO had a cable around May’s neck and was strangling her with it. Samantha picked up a broken piece of 2 x 4 and smacked him around the head with it. It had the desired effect which was to release May.

Ward spun around to face her but was met with a fist to the face. Samantha then kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him sprawling across a work table. Before he had a chance to stand up properly, the brunette was on him and unleashed all her anger. May watched Samantha pummel Ward deciding to let her take everything she’d been holding in since discovering Ward’s betrayal and Eric’s murder.

Her former SO kicked her legs out from underneath her, knocking her to the ground. Before May could make a move Ward was on top of Samantha, hands around her throat. May grabbed the back his shirt and tore him away from her. She then started to dish out her own beating on the man.

Samantha sat up just as Ward managed to get in a couple hits in. He kicked May in the gut, sending her to the floor. Samantha spied nail gun laying by bench. She scrambled over to it. “May!” she called, sliding the gun across the floor. May grabbed it and fired two nails into Wards foot.

The man screamed in pain and dropped to one knee, grabbing his foot to try and free it. He looks up at May just in time to see her raise a fist. “Wait, May!” he cried holding a hand up.

May just ignored his plea, brought her arm back and punched him as hard as she could in the throat. Ward grabbed his throat with both hands, choking as she’d just fractured his larynx. Samantha stood next to May. “Want to do the honours?” May asked her.

“Gladly”, Samantha replied “this is for Eric”. She then did a roundhouse kick to Ward’s head, knocking him out cold. “Is it bad that I still want to tear him apart?” she asked May.

“No, it’s not”, she replied. She looked down at Ward “You can if you want. You’ve earned the right”, May added.

“I really, really want to May…” Samantha sighed “but I can’t. He doesn’t deserve a quick way out. He deserves to suffer first”.

\-----------------------

May and Samantha walked with a now awake and handcuffed Ward to the factory floor where Coulson was talking to Trip.

“You got a chance to express all of your feelings?” Coulson asked the two females after Trip walked off.

“Is he still breathing?” Samantha countered.

Coulson glanced at Ward “Guess they kept some of it to themselves”, he remarked. He knew how upset Samantha had been when she found out the news that the man had killed Ward. Scratch that, upset was an understatement. The brunette had gotten very, very angry and was ready to hunt down Ward then and there and make him pay.

His former specialist should count his blessings that both himself and Skye were able to convince Samantha to postpone her revenge mission. If they hadn’t, Ward would more than likely be 6 feet under by now.

Samantha and May walked around to stand behind Coulson.  “He’s having trouble speaking”, May told him “I think I fractured his larynx”.

Coulson looked over at her for a moment “Oh, good”, he said, pleased to hear it. He took a couple of steps toward Ward. “Your attempt to cross off Fitz and Simmons failed”, he said. _Oh thank god_ Samantha thought, extremely relieved to hear that. “But Fitz may never be the same again”, Coulson continued “So, I’m going to invent new ways to ruin the rest of your life. And we’ll do whatever’s necessary to get HYDRA intel from you, but your torture – it’s going to be internal”.

“And a little bit external”, May added.

Without looking away from Ward, Coulson nods in agreement “Sure. Some of that”, he agreed “But you devoted your entire life to a deranged narcissist who never gave a damn about anyone, and now he’s dead. You’ve got the rest of your life to wrestle with the question – who are you, without him?”

Ward lowered his eyes away from Coulson. Samantha didn’t have the heart to feel sorry for him, not after he tore their family apart by his betrayal.

\------------

Several hours later the Bus touched down in an unknown destination. Apparently Fury had left a little cube to Coulson to help him in his new capacity as Director. The group stood together on the ramp as it slowly lowered. A happy smile appeared on Samantha’s face when they saw Jemma. She and Sky walked quickly down the ramp to embrace the British woman.

“Fitz, is he okay?” Skye asked stepping back with her sister “Please tell me he’s okay”.

Jemma looks at them all with tears in her eyes. “He’s alive”, she replied. They all relaxed hearing this. May looks around at their new surroundings.

“What is this place?” May asked.

“First thing I found in that box was these coordinates”, Coulson said. He glanced at Jemma “Another secret base?” he asked her.  

“I call it The Playground…”, a very familiar voice spoke up. Everyone except Trip who hadn’t met Eric, gaped at the newcomer. He looked identical to their fallen friend “…although, technically it doesn’t have a name because, technically, it doesn’t exist seeing as its a secret base and all”.

“Eric?” Skye asked still staring at the man in disbelief.  

“Billy…Koenig”, the man corrected her “Agent of SHIELD”. He lifts up his lanyard showing it to them proudly. “Although I totally understand the confusion. Eric passed away, sadly, but it’s great to have company, finally, and I did not mind minding this place”.

“Agent Coulson”, Coulson said introducing himself.

“I know. I know. And it is an honor to meet you, sir”, Billy hurried up the ramp and shook Coulson’s hand “I’ll get your lanyard shortly”. He looked at the others, more specifically Samantha. “Eric told me all about you Sam” he stepped forward and hugged the brunette much to her surprise “I’m so glad to finally meet you in person” he stepped back “I just wish Eric could be here for this”.

Samantha gave him a small sad smile “me too”, she agreed.

“But you’re here now and hopefully ready to fight the good fight”, Billy said.

“More than ready Billy”, Samantha told him.

Billy turned his attention back to Coulson “I know we don’t have much, but what we have is yours, sir”, he said.

“Thank you”, Coulson said.

“So…” Billy headed down the ramp “Where would you like to start?”  

Everyone looked to Coulson who gestured for them to follow Billy. Samantha walked down the ramp with the others, taking in the large concrete hangar. As she walked, her thoughts turned to the Doctor and Rose. She hoped they were ok, wherever in the universe they may be.

The End!


End file.
